Anna University sexual assault case: 'Accused a DMK supporter, not a cadre', Stalin breaks silence

While acknowledging that Gnanasekaran was a DMK supporter and not a party cadre, the Tamil Nadu CM told Assembly that chargesheet will be filed in in 60 days.

Chennai: Breaking his silence, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday termed the sexual assault of an Anna University student as a “big cruelty” and asserted that the government will not hesitate to act against more people if they are found to be involved in the crime by the Madras High Court-appointed all-woman Special Investigation Team (SIT).

Acknowledging that the accused -- Gnanasekaran -- was a DMK supporter, and certainly not a party cadre, Stalin told the Assembly that the Greater Chennai Police will file the chargesheet in the case in 60 days, work towards fast-tracking the trial through a Special Court, and ensure that the suspect gets maximum sentence for the crime he committed.

In his reply to a Calling Attention Motion, Stalin tore into the AIADMK for “repeatedly politicizing” the sexual assault case by demanding to know “who’s the sir?” -- a reference to the survivor’s claim that the accused spoke to someone over his phone before committing the crime.

He also turned the tables on the principal Opposition party alleging that the CBI concluded that all accused in the 2019 Pollachi sexual assault were members of the AIADMK.

AIADMK MLAs, who came to the House in black shirts with “who’s the sir” embossed on their pockets, staged a walkout after Stalin spoke about the Pollachi case and how the then Edappadi K Palaniswami government “delayed” the filing of a FIR by 12 days.  

“The SIT is investigating the case. If the investigation concludes that more persons are involved in the case, whoever it is, I give a categorical assurance to this House that the police will take strict action against them without any partiality. The chargesheet in this case will be filed in 60 days and we will take steps to fast-track the case via a special court,” Stalin told the Assembly.

“I can cite 100 such ‘sir’ references in cases that were handled during the AIADMK government,” he added.

The sexual assault of a 19-year-old student at the Anna University on December 23 created ripples in Tamil Nadu with the AIADMK and BJP taking to the streets against the DMK dispensation. While the Opposition alleged that Gnanasekaran was a functionary of the ruling party, though Stalin said otherwise, admitted that he was a supporter of the DMK and might have had taken pictures with ministers and other party functionaries at events.

Without taking the name of the university as he did not want to bring any disrepute to DMK founder C N Annadurai after whom the institute is named, Stalin reeled out statistics to drive home his argument that the state was indeed safe for women.

“Chennai and Coimbatore have found place in the first 10 cities that are safe for women; Tamil Nadu is the state where women go to work in large numbers; Trichy, Vellore, Salem, Erode, and Tiruppur are five cities that have found place in the list of safe places with less than 10 lakh population,” Stalin added.

The Chief Minister also said a technical glitch on the part of the National Informatics Centre was the reason for the “leak” of the FIR, while maintaining that the state government has had no role in the matter.