Anna University Sexual Assault Case: BJP Links Accused With Udhayanidhi Stalin, DMK Responds – News18

Last Updated:December 26, 2024, 13:27 IST

Anna University Sexual Assault Case: BJP alleged that the arrested accused is a “repeat offender” from DMK, the ruling party of Tamil Nadu.

Amid the massive outrage and political tussle over the sexual assault case from Anna University’s campus in Chennai, BJP alleged that the arrested accused is a “repeat offender” from DMK, the ruling party of Tamil Nadu.

The row erupted after a 19-year-old student of Anna University was sexually assaulted, and her male friend was attacked by two unidentified men inside the campus in Chennai. The incident occurred on December 23 evening and came to the fore after the victim lodged a police complaint on Tuesday.

Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai claimed that the accused has been involved in similar crimes in the past and shared his pictures with top DMK leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of Chief Minister MK Stalin.

Gnanasekaran, the arrested accused, is the deputy organiser of DMK’s Saidai East student wing, the BJP leader claimed. The accused has been remanded to judicial custody for 15 days following a massive protest seeking legal action against him.

“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,” Annamalai alleged in an X post.

“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 added.

Accused Not A DMK Member: Minister

The accused in the varsity student sexual assault case is not even a primary member of the DMK, Tamil Nadu Law Minister S Regupathi said on Thursday.

On the photograph of the accused with MK Stalin’s son, the minister said that there was a clear gap between Gnanasekaran and the Deputy CM, and it showed the picture was clicked by someone and such instances cannot be prevented.

He added that the accused was arrested in a matter of five to six hours, showing the police’s swift action and the government had no necessity to hide anything, he told reporters.

AIADMK Says Cops ‘Covering–Up’ Case

The main opposition party of Tamil Nadu, AIADMK too, trained guns at the ruling party over the sexual assault case and called DMK a “den of anti-social elements.”

“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.

AIADMK leader Kovai Sathyan while speaking to CNN-News18 condemned the incident and accused the state police of covering the case. “We condemn the Anna University case. There’s a massive cover-up happening by the police,” the leader said.

Sathyan’s remark came after several reports claimed that many CCTV cameras in the university premises were found to be not in working condition. However, the police said they have arrested one accused based on the available CCTV footage.

Police said that the victim, who used to sell biryani on the roadside outside the university, confessed to the crime and further investigation to track his involvement in past cases is underway.

A joint security review will be undertaken by Greater Chennai Police and the university security officials and appropriate action will be taken to improve the security of the students, said an official.