On the 26th of December, BJP Tamil Nadu president K. Annamalai held a press conference in Coimbatore in the wake of the horrific incident that took place few days earlier in Anna University. Slamming the ruling party for alleged links with the Anna University rape accused, Annamalai vowed to uproot the DMK government and asserted that by that time, he will walk barefoot. Moreover, he announced his plans to flog himself six times and fast for 48 days while visiting Tamil Nadu’s six sacred Murugan temples.
“Till the DMK government is not overthrown, I will walk barefoot. I’m requesting the people, please look into all this. As always, we are not going to be giving money to win elections. We will fight elections without distributing any money. I won’t wear a chappal until the DMK government goes out” Annamalai vowed at the press conference.
The press conference was announced in wake of the recent sexual assault of a 19 year old student of Anna University. While speaking at the presser, K. Annamalai bashed DMK for its misgovernance and giving shelter to anti-social elements. He also pointed his fingers against the Tamil Nadu police for deliberately leaking the FIR, as a result revealing the identity of the victim girl. K. Annamalai stated that it is because the accused has connections with the DMK that the Tamil Nadu police resorted to such cheap tricks.
To substantiate his claims, Annamalai presented photos and pamphlets linking the accused Gnanasekaran with DMK, the ruling party of Tamil Nadu. The accused pictures with Udhayanidhi Stalin, the deputy Chief Minister and Health Minister of the state, Ma Subramanian gives a push to the allegations made by BJP Tamil Nadu President. He also emphasized his frustration with DMK’s attempts to divert public attention from pressing issues by playing “North-South politics.” He declared his disdain for such tactics, saying, “I want to spit at the politics being played in Tamil Nadu.”
Anna University Incident
On the 23rd of December, a student was sexually assaulted, filmed, threatened and blackmailed at Anna University. The man who is behind the heinous act has been identified as Gnanasekaran who already has plenty of pending cases registered against him. The Greater Chennai police got hold of him on the 25th of December.
The First Information Report (FIR) regarding the incident was filed at the All Women Police Station Raja Annamalai Puram on 24th December . According to the registered FIR, Gnanasekaran filmed the victim along with her boyfriend on campus and used the footage to blackmail them. He also held the student in illegal custody from 7:45 PM to 8:20 PM, behind the Highway Lab Building and EEE department building.
Gnanasekaran threatened the survivor with three options: facing expulsion from the university if he leaked the footage to the dean and her parents, “spending time” with him, or “spending time” with another unidentified man who had reportedly contacted him before the assault. The survivor’s complaint states that Gnanasekaran received a call from an unknown person to whom he mentioned that he would threaten the girl and leave her. Before leaving, he photographed the student’s college ID card and obtained her father’s contact number from her phone.
Police investigations revealed that Gnanasekaran is a habitual offender with seven pending criminal cases under Indian Penal Code sections 457 (lurking, house-trespass, or house-breaking by night) and 380 (theft in dwelling house). For the current assault, he has been charged under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 63(a) (rape), 64(1) (punishment for rape), and multiple counts of sexual harassment under sections 75(1)(ii) and 75(1)(iii).
