Tamil Nadu man, who attempted to sexually assault US woman, arrested

An American woman was sexually assaulted by a man in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvannamalai on Sunday (August 23). The accused, who allegedly attempted to assault the woman, was arrested.

The man, who is a native of Namakkal, was roaming around the temple town falsely claiming to be a saint "attempted to sexually assault" the woman, as per a senior police official.

"We are questioning him, the investigation is going on and nothing more could be divulged now," news agency PTI quoted the senior official as saying.

The victim was reportedly staying in a rented accommodation in pursuit of spiritualism.

Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, dotted with several ashrams, is popular for the ancient Sri Arunachaleswara temple and many spiritually inclined people have made this town their home.

Meanwhile, as many as 5,975 persons tested positive for coronavirus in Tamil Nadu over the past 24 hours while 6,047 others were cured and discharged from various hospitals, said the state Health Department.

In a statement issued, the health department said the total number of coronavirus-infected persons in Tamil Nadu went up by persons to 379,385.

The total number of Covid-19 cured persons went up by 6,047 to 319,327.

The number of active Covid-19 cases in the state after taking into account the cured and dead stands at 53,541.

The state recorded the deaths of 97 Covid-19 patients taking the total tally till date to 6,517.

(With agency inputs)