New Delhi:

Tamil Nadu Assembly’s first session of the year got off to a stormy start on Monday as the Opposition AIADMK and BJP MLAs protested and raised slogans against the Anna University sexual assault case. Several leaders, including Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami – who led the protest – also held placards in the House.

The Assembly Speaker M Appavu asked the protesting MLAs to stop the sloganeering. However, as they did not stop, the Speaker ordered marshalls to evacuate them. 

Following this, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and other BJP leaders also walked out of the Assembly.

According to BJP MLA, Vanathi Srinivasan, they do not have any faith in the government’s investigation into the sexual assault case. “We suspect someone is being safeguarded…Opposition is not politicising the issue. We are raising women’s safety issues,” she told NDTV.

The ruling DMK government has been facing challenges as its allied party, the VCK, also submitted a notice to the Speaker to discuss the issues surrounding the Anna University sexual assault case.

The incident took place on December 23, when a 19-year-old engineering student was allegedly sexually assaulted on the Anna University campus. The victim, in her complaint, said that the assailant had attacked her and her male friend, brutally assaulting the latter before dragging her into nearby shrubs.

One person, Gnanasekaran –  a roadside biryani vendor – was arrested shortly after the complaint was filed. 

AIADMK students’ wing members detained

AIADMK Students’ wing members held a protest outside Anna University on Monday morning. They distributed black bands to the students and public as a mark of support to the victim and to garner the attention of the state government to arrest the real accused, an AIADMK member said.

The students, however, were detained as they were denied permission to hold the protest.

They would be released later in the day, police said.

Another high drama in Tamil Nadu assembly 

Another high drama followed in the Tamil Nadu Assembly as Governor TN Ravi walked out of the inaugural session of the House, accusing DMK of disrespecting the Constitution by refusing to sing the National Anthem before the session convened.

“The Constitution of Bharat and the National Anthem were once again insulted in the Tamil Nadu Assembly today. Respecting the National Anthem is among the first Fundamental Duty as enshrined in our Constitution. It is sung in all the state legislatures at the beginning and the end of Governor’s address. Today on the arrival of the Governor to the House only Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu was sung,” the Raj Bhavan said in a post on X.

It added that while the Governor “respectfully reminded” the House to play the national anthem, they “cussedly refused”.

“It is a matter of grave concern. Not to be a party to such brazen disrespect to the Constitution and the National Anthem, Governor in deep anguish left the House,” the post read.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly reportedly has a tradition of beginning and ending the session with the national anthem.

The Governor also did not deliver the customary address to the Assembly.

This is not the first time that the Governor has walked out of the Assembly and refused to deliver the address. In 2023, dramatic scenes played out in the Assembly when TN Ravi skipped parts of the official speech prepared by the DMK. He did not mention parts of the address that mentioned leaders such as Periyar, BR Ambedkar, K Kamaraj, CN Annadurai, and K Karunanidhi.

The woman was sexually assaulted in the campus of the premier technical varsity. (Representational)

Chennai:

Amid the massive political row over the sexual assault case on Anna University’s campus in Chennai, the BJP has alleged that the arrested accused is a DMK worker who has been involved in similar crimes in the past. Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai has shared pictures of the accused, Gnanasekaran, with top DMK leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of Chief Minister MK Stalin.

Mr Annamalai alleged that Gnanasekaran is the deputy organiser of DMK’s Saidai East student wing. “A clear pattern emerges from such criminal cases across Tamil Nadu. A criminal becomes a member of the DMK and becomes close to the DMK executives in that area. All cases registered against him are being shelved. Furthermore, he is being released without being classified as a criminal with a criminal record and without being placed on the watch list of the local police station. Due to pressure from the respective local DMK executives and ministers, the police are not investigating the cases against him, which gives him room to commit further crimes,” he alleged in an X post. 

அண்ணா பல்கலைக்கழகத்தில், மாணவி பாலியல் வன்கொடுமைக்கு ஆளான வழக்கில் கைதாகியுள்ள ஞானசேகரன் என்ற நபர், ஏற்கனவே இது போன்ற குற்றங்களில் பல முறை ஈடுபட்டவர் என்பதும், அவர் திமுகவின், சைதை கிழக்கு பகுதி மாணவர் அணி துணை அமைப்பாளர் என்பதும் தெரிய வந்துள்ளது.

தமிழகம் முழுவதும், இதுபோன்ற… pic.twitter.com/K1ahEoIqE0

— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) December 25, 2024

“This cruelty has happened to an innocent student today because a person who has been involved in 15 cases of sexual crimes has been left without taking any action for so many days. The DMK government is entirely responsible for this,” he added.

“How long will the people of Tamil Nadu have to tolerate this situation? Is there a law in Tamil Nadu that says that if you are a member of the ruling party, you should not take action against the criminals?” Mr Annamalai said.

The main Opposition AIADMK, too, stepped up its attack on the ruling party. “The sexual assault incident on the Anna University campus is proof that the ruling DMK is a den of anti-social elements who are corrupting society and engaging in all kinds of criminal activities,” Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly E Palaniswami said.

The former Chief Minister said the state government’s claim that CCTVs at Anna University are not working is like saying, “Ants ate the sugar, termites ate the sack.”

“The fact that this unfortunate regime and the parties that run it have turned universities into dens for sex offenders, instead of running them as schools of higher education, is the height of world cruelty. Why didn’t the police, who track down and arrest those who post a tweet and comment, arrest Gnanasekaran, who is already involved in several cases? Is it because he belongs to the ruling DMK?” he asked.

The DMK has trashed these allegations and said the photographs of the accused with party leaders and ministers mean nothing. “If somebody is taking a picture with a leader, what does it mean? Whoever it is, if someone has committed a crime, or done something wrong, the law won’t keep quiet. It has happened in this case. He has been arrested, he cannot escape justice. The Opposition parties do not have anything to say against the DMK, so every day they are saying law and order situation has deteriorated. If there is an abnormal increase in crime in the present tenure, then you can allege there is an issue with law and order, if the accused person is allowed to escape, then you can allege. But even an MP from the DMK was arrested and was in jail for two months. This is how DMK views law and order, if you commit a crime, you will be taken to task,” DMK’s A Saravanan told NDTV.

According to the police, a second-year engineering student at Anna University has said in her complaint that an unidentified person threatened and sexually assaulted her when she was talking to her friend on campus around 8 pm Monday. The police have said 37-year-old man Gnanasekaran has confessed. 

Chennai:

A massive political row has erupted in Tamil Nadu after a second-year engineering student of Chennai’s Anna University was sexually assaulted and her male friend thrashed on campus Monday night. A 37-year-old man, who sells biryani on the pavement, has been arrested. While the Opposition AIADMK and BJP have targeted the MK Stalin government on the state’s law and order situation, the DMK government has slammed attempts to politicise the incident.

Tamil Nadu’s Higher Education Minister Govi Chezhian has said appropriate decisions will be taken at the university level to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

“A student from Guindy Engineering College has filed a complaint of sexual assault. The police are investigating. Appropriate decisions will be taken at the university level to ensure that such an incident does not recur,” he said in a post on X.

Hitting out at Opposition parties targeting the government over the sexual assault case, the minister said, “Those who want to politicise this incident in which an individual student was victimised should note that in the Pollachi sexual assault incident during the previous regime, the victims were afraid to even file a complaint with the police due to pressure from the then rulers.” “DMK government is taking swift action. Very soon the culprits will be brought to justice,” the minister said.

Earlier, the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, AIADMK’s E Palaniswami termed the incident as “shocking” and “shameful”. “The fact that a similar incident is happening in Tamil Nadu, 12 years after the Nirbhaya incident in Delhi, shows that Mr Stalin has pushed law and order to the back burner,” he said. The former Chief Minister said the DMK government had taken the law and order situation to the point where women are not safe even in colleges and workplaces. “I urge Mr Stalin’s DMK government to immediately arrest the culprits, ensure that they receive the maximum legal punishment, and strengthen police work for the safety of women across the state,” he said.

State BJP chief K Annamalai has said Tamil Nadu has become a “breeding ground of unlawful activities” and a “haven for criminals” under the DMK government. “Women don’t feel safe in the State anymore, as the police are kept busy by the ruling administration to silence the opposition. BJP Tamil Nadu has to call for a protest for the police to act if the criminal is a functionary of DMK. This is the dire state of law and order in the state,” he said in a post on X. The BJP demanded that the Chief Minister take responsibility for the incident and address the people on the status of the probe.

According to the police, the student said in her complaint that an unidentified person threatened and sexually assaulted her when she was talking to her friend on campus around 8 pm Monday. The police said a 37-year-old man Gnanasekaran has been arrested. “The suspect has confessed. He runs a biryani shop on the footpath,” police have said, adding that police are probing if he was involved in any other crime.  

Students’ Federation of India and All India Women Welfare Federation protested outside the campus yesterday. University registrar J Prakash has said the college authorities are cooperating with the cops