The day was 16th March, 2023. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) picked up a 35-year-old man named Victor James Raja from his residence in Saliyamangalam in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu.
At that time, Victor was a research scholar at the National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management in Thanjavur (NIFTEM-T). He had fired off e-mails to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), which led to his detention and interrogation by the special CBI team.
On 17th March of that year, Victor was remanded to judicial custody. The content of the email sent by the accused to the PMO remains unknown. However, some media reports suggested that the mail was offensive, disparaging and defamatory in nature.
பிரதமர் அலுவலகத்துக்கு அவதூறு மின்னஞ்சல் அனுப்பிய "விக்டர் ஜேம்ஸ் ராஜா" என்ற நபரின் லேப்டாப்பில் கொட்டிக் கிடந்த சிறுமிகளின் ஆபாச வீடியோக்கள் அதிர்ச்சியான சிபிஐ..
— பாரத தேசம் கோபி(மோடியின் குடும்பம்) (@Gopalak12365012) March 18, 2023
Credit @polimernews pic.twitter.com/76b87e2EiW
Interestingly, locals claimed that the accused habitually wrote emails to higher officials and showcased his research on social media. They alleged that Vicor had ‘no history’ of committing any wrongdoing.
“According to local people, Raja used to write emails to higher officials and also share information on his research on social media platforms. He did not have any past history of being on the wrong side of law, they added,” the locals told DTNext.
Little did Victor know that his one ‘mistake’ of sending an email to the Prime Minister’s Office would expose his history of heinous sexual crimes.
CBI probe exposed Victor James Raja
During the investigation, the CBI found images and recordings of child sexual abuse in the database of Interpol. Using digital forensic tools, the central agency tracked it back to Victor James Raja.
It came to light that the ‘research scholar’ offered tuition services to school children. During the course of his private classes, he sexually abused the children, recorded obscene videos and uploaded them on a particular website for quick money.
The site is said to be controlled by the international mafia. Agents from as many as 21 States in India upload child pornography to the website for their paid clients.
A 35 year old #PhD #scholar from #TamilNadu was arrested for #sexualexploitation of eight children aged between 5 and 18. The accused, Victor James Raja allegedly has also traded explicit videos of these acts on internet.
— Edex – The New Indian Express (@Xpress_edex) May 19, 2023
Click on link to know more –> https://t.co/yusu3anrOg
The child pornography videos, uploaded by Victor James Raja, had a large viewership. Based on a tipoff from Interpol, the CBI recovered devices and incriminating evidence from the residence of the accused.
According to the Indian central agency, Victor was sexually abusing a 10-year-old child for 4 years and uploaded her naked pictures and videos to his Google account
He had also forced a minor boy and girl to engage in sexual acts among themselves and other minors. The accused also threatened the children about putting out their information online and used intimidation tactics against them to bring in more children.
In total, the research scholar sexually abused a total of 8 children between the ages of 5 and 18. Most of his victims were aged 12 and below
Victor coerced the children into performing penetrative sexual acts, recorded their sexual abuse, criminally intimidated them, forced and instigated them to perform sexual activities with him and other minors.
Action against the PhD scholar
In March last year, the CBI booked Victor James Raja under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 120 (B) for criminal conspiracy and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Information Technology Act.
Two months later in May 2023, the central agency filed a chargesheet against him for creating, seeking, collecting. browsing, downloading and distributing material “depicting children in sexually explicit acts in electronic form.”
The biggest development in the case has now come after a period of 14 months.
DESIGNATED COURT AT THANJAVUR SENTENCES ACCUSED VICTOR JAMES RAJA TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT WITH FINE OF Rs. 6.54 LAKH IN A CASE RELATED TO SEXUAL ASSAULT OF MINOR CHILDREN AND SHARING/EXCHANGE OF ONLINE CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE MATERIAL (CSAM) pic.twitter.com/V9jVFYjydH
— Central Bureau of Investigation (India) (@CBIHeadquarters) July 9, 2024
On Tuesday (9th July), the CBI informed in a press release that a special court sentenced Victor James Raja to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹6.54 lakhs for his crimes.
The court awarded a compensation of ₹4 lakhs each to the children who were sexually abused by the accused.
“The trial of this case was concluded in a time-bound manner with the assistance of Special POCSO Court, Thanjavur and a total of 34 witnesses were and examined/cross-examined and various documents & articles were exhibited,” the CBI said in its press release.
When Victor James Raja was promoted as ‘organic farmer’
OpIndia found that the child sexual abuser was promoted as an ‘organic farmer’ and agriculturist by the popular Tamil channel Pasumai Vikatan in February 2021.
“Victor James Raja hails from Poondithopuk village on the Thanjavur-Ammapet road. An M.Com graduate, he is currently researching for a Doctoral Degree (PhD) on Ecotourism in Tamil Nadu. He is also creating awareness among the farmers about organic farming,” the caption of the YouTube video read.
Had it not been for his offensive email to PMO, the CBI may not have probed Victor James Raja and exposed his heinous crimes.
He could possibly have been a free man, sexually exploiting vulnerable children as before for quick money.
