Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) | A college student was sexually assaulted by three men near the Coimbatore international airport, police said on Monday.

The unidentified miscreants attacked and chased away the male friend of the 19-year-old student and allegedly sexually assaulted her on November 2 night, police said.

The incident near the high security area sent shock waves across the city. Police said seven special teams have been formed to trace out and nab the culprits.

Both the student and her friend have been admitted to hospital.

Expressing shock over the incident, BJP leader K Annamalai claimed that since the DMK came to power in Tamil Nadu, incidents such as these have shown that anti-social elements no longer fear the law or the police.

"From DMK ministers to police officials, there has been a disturbing pattern of shielding sexual offenders instead of ensuring justice. The DMK government has utterly failed in both preventing sexual crimes and providing safety for women," he alleged in a post on the social media platform 'X'