Anna University sexual assault: Crack down criminals instead of social media critics, Edappadi tells DMK govt
He also raised concerns over the arrangements in place for the safety and security of students in the university
Edappadi K Palaniswami
CHENNAI: Criticising the DMK government over the sexual assault of a second-year student of Anna University, Opposition leader and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said the authorities were focussed on arrested people for social media posts while ignoring those like the history sheeter accused in the case.
Noting how the accused, Gnanasekaran, who has a history of criminal cases, Palaniswami asked, “How was Gnanasekaran, who is involved in several cases, allowed inside the university campus? Why wasn’t a person linked to multiple cases arrested earlier itself, while the authorities are actively arresting people for posting tweets?”
He also raised concerns over the arrangements in place for the safety and security of students in the university. Questioning the government for its handling of safety measures inside Anna University, he asked, “Is the DMK government running Anna University without proper safety measures?”
Ridiculing that the CCTVs in the campus were not functioning, Palaniswami said, “It is like saying the ant ate the sugar, and the rat ate the sack.”
The Chennai police arrested Gnanasekaran, a 37-year-old of Kottur, who sells biryani on the pavement near the university, on Wednesday.
According to the complaint, the girl was talking with her male friend, also a college student, when a man threatened them and attacked the male student. The accused then forced the girl to perform sexual acts. Police said the incident happened around 8 pm on December 23.
Following the complaint, Kotturpuram all women police station (AWPS) personnel conducted an inquiry with the victim in the presence of the university's Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) members and constituted special teams to nab the accused.
An official statement from the city police then said that they arrested Gnanasekaran based on scientific evidence and added that he confessed to the crime. The police added that the accused is a history sheeter and has several criminal cases against him.