The Mambalam All-Women Police arrested a 30-year-old man for allegedly sexually assaulting a 19-year-old mentally ill woman at Marina beach.

The victim, a resident of West Mambalam, who is said to have a mild mental health condition, left her house on May 13 without informing her family. On May 18, her parents found her near the Mambalam railway station and brought her home.

The police said the woman fell ill on May 19 and was taken to the Kasturba Gandhi Government Hospital in Triplicane. During the examination, doctors suspected sexual assault and alerted the Mambalam All-Women police station, following which a case was registered and an investigation launched.

Investigations revealed that on May 13, while the woman was near a theatre in Egmore, a man identified as Imran, 30, of Chintadripet approached her on a two-wheeler. The police said she was acquainted with him through social media. Imran allegedly took her to Marina beach, where he allegedly committed the sexual assault. He later dropped her off at the Fort railway station in the early hours of May 14.

The woman then travelled to the Mambalam Railway Station, where she befriended an autorickshaw driver, who helped her secure a job at a clothing store in T. Nagar. She subsequently stayed at a working women’s hostel. The police said she later travelled to several places, including Arakkonam, Vellore, Katpadi, Tiruppur, and Coimbatore. During the trip, she stayed with two persons she had befriended on Instagram in Arakkonam. However, after they allegedly took away her mobile phone and left, she returned to the Chennai Central railway station and later went to Marina beach.

On May 19, a friend of the woman’s father informed the family that she had been seen wandering near the Mambalam railway station. Her father rushed to the spot and brought her home. Based on the investigation, the All-Women Police arrested Imran. He was produced before a magistrate court and remanded in judicial custody. Further investigation is under way.