Accused Held For Sexual Assault On Student At Anna University A DMK Functionary, Alleges BJP

Chennai: Amid the political tussle over the safety of women in Tamil Nadu triggered after the alleged sexual assault of a second-year engineering student inside Chennai’s Anna University campus, the BJP alleged that the accused arrested is a “repeat offender and a DMK functionary”.

Gnanasekaran, the 37-year-old accused—belonging to Kottur—ran a biryani stall near the Anna University campus. He was arrested by the Tamil Nadu Police in connection to the sexual assault on the 19-year-old student.

https://twitter.com/annamalai_k/status/1871934513909264429?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw  

The accused along with another unidentified man reportedly entered the university campus on December 23 evening, thrashed the student’s male friend, and then dragged her into a bush before sexually assaulting her, the Hindustan Times reported.

The BJP state president K Annamalai took to social media platform X and shared a picture of deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and other DMK leaders with the accused.

“A clear pattern emerges from the number of such cases in the past,” he said. He also noted that a criminal gets closely linked to local DMK functionaries and then becomes a member of the party.

Meanwhile, actor-politician Vijay, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam party, condemned the incident, urging the Tamil Nadu government to take ‘swift legal action’ against the accused.

The survivor and her friend are students at the university.