AIADMK party workers staging a protest against the DMK government in connection with the Anna University sexual assault case, at Tiruchi on December 30.
| Photo Credit: MOORTHY M

An incident of sexual assault on a 19-year-old girl on December 23 in Tamil Nadu’s Anna University has snowballed into an all-out political slugfest over women’s safety between the main opposition party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), and the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Other opposition political parties too have joined in and have announced agitations across the State.

The AIADMK contended that the DMK was shielding the true criminals. Meanwhile, the DMK pointed to the AIADMK’s poor record on women’s safety in the decade that it was in power (2011-21) and questioned the locus standi of the party functionaries to criticise the government. The AIADMK conducted Statewide demonstrations on December 30, claiming that the law and order in the State had deteriorated and that the government was not concerned about women safety.

On December 25, the police arrested a 37-year-old man with a history of assaulting women in the past. The AIADMK wanted to know if he gained access to the university because the accused was a “DMK man”. DMK spokespersons have consistently denied that he belonged to the party. Over the past few days, the AIADMK has shared videos of the accused at DMK events and walking around with a DMK Minister.

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On December 26, the Chennai Police Commissioner, A. Arun, told the media that the accused acted alone. “Media reports had specified that there was a second person at the scene of the crime, and that he had received a call from another person, including a reference to a ‘sir’. But that is not true,” the Commissioner said as reported by The Hindu.

Opposition intensifies agitation

The AIADMK used this as a tag line and pasted posters across Chennai asking: “Who is that Sir?” It ran a social media campaign too called “#SaveOurDaughters”. “Our IT wing officer bearers had run a campaign on ‘Who is that Sir?’ in order to ensure that the true criminals are apprehended. Instead of doing this, the police is filing a case against our office-bearers,” AIADMK general secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami told media persons on December 31. He said that the AIADMK would protest until the girl got justice and also demanded withdrawal of the cases charged against the AIADMK office-bearers.

Three State Ministers questioned the AIADMK’s motives and requested that the sexual assault not be politicised. Law Minister S. Regupathy indulged in whataboutery and brought up the Pollachi sex scandal, which happened when the AIADMK was in power. He told the media in Pudukkottai: “The AIADMK failed to act until public protests forced it to [in Pollachi]. The DMK has taken swift action [in this case]. We don’t need to shield anyone.” Social Welfare Minister P. Geetha Jeevan claimed that the AIADMK was trying to drive female students out of higher education by instilling fear. “The women of Tamil Nadu trust the DMK government,” she asserted.

Kayalvizhi Selvaraj, another woman Minister in the Tamil Nadu Cabinet who handles the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare portfolio, pointed to another case and claimed that it was because of the government’s swift action that a stalker was sentenced to death for murdering a girl. (A girl was pushed from a moving train and a judgment was delivered in 25 months after the crime was committed.)

The Pattali Makkal Katchi’s Sowmiya Anbumani, who said that the party would organise a protest on January 2, demanded a CBI probe into the sexual assault. The AIADMK had made a similar demand on December 26. The Naam Tamilar Katchi organised a protest on December 31 on the issue.

The Madras High Court, which entertained two PIL petitions on shifting the case to the CBI, on December 28 ordered a team of three women IPS officers to probe the case. The vacation bench raised several uncomfortable questions of the government, including the conduct of the Police Commissioner, and ordered the government to pay Rs.25 lakh to the survivor for “the trauma and humiliation she had to undergo after the FIR she filed was leaked”.

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Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam president and actor Vijay met Governor R.N. Ravi on December 30 over the issue. A Raj Bhavan note said that he “handed over a memorandum seeking the Governor’s intervention on severely deteriorating law and order situation in the State and serious threat to women safety with the incident of sexual assault at Anna University campus being the latest demonstration of the situation”.

Vijay also wrote a letter to his “dear sisters” in the State in which he described the incident as “deeply shocking and painful” and said that he was writing the letter because “there is no point in asking those in power to act”.

NCW takes cognisance

The National Commission for Women (NCW), which has been often accused of being partisan in its conduct in BJP-ruled States as opposed to those ruled by the Opposition, said on December 28 that it “had already taken suo motu cognizance” and constituted a fact-finding committee to investigate and recommend action.

On December 31, it posted on the social media platform X that “to ensure accountability, the NCW assessed security at Anna University, met the SIT, and engaged stakeholders, including NGOs and students. A detailed report with actionable recommendations was prepared. The safety of students remains non-negotiable.” NCW member Mamta Kumari later told the media that the report would be submitted to the Central government and questioned how the State government allowed a habitual offender to roam around in the university.

So far, neither Chief Minister M.K. Stalin nor Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin have commented on the case. Stalin, who handles the Home portfolio, made an indirect reference in a speech in Thoothukudi on December 30, saying that the women of Tamil Nadu have become front-runners in different spheres of activity.