The arrests come days after a woman constable alleged that she was sexually assaulted by S Praveen and Egambaram at a party meeting.
Days after a woman police officer alleged that two Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) members sexually harassed her, the Chennai police have arrested the accused. The functionaries — S Praveen and Egambaram — have been sent to judicial custody, and were booked under sections 353 (assaulting a public servant) and 354 (sexual harassment) of the IPC, along with provisions of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act. Though the police have taken action now, at one point the woman constable had taken her complaint back, allegedly owing to pressure.
The DMK has also temporarily suspended Praveen and Egambaram from the party. In a statement, DMK general secretary Duraimurugan said on Tuesday that the functionaries are temporarily suspended as they have “brought disrepute to the party”. He also said they have been temporarily removed from the party’s basic membership as well.
On December 31, the woman constable was deployed to the DMK party meeting in Dasarathapuram, where the functionaries were celebrating the centenary of former party general secretary K Anbazhagan. Later, Praveen and Egambaram allegedly got drunk and harassed the officer. One of the accused was immediately caught by another constable who was at the spot, while the other was nabbed later.
Following the incident, the two accused issued an apology letter at the Koyambedu police commissioner’s office, claiming that the incident was an accident and a result of heavy crowds at the event. On January 2, the woman withdrew her complaint, but not before the opposition parties slammed the ruling DMK. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami demanded strict action against the accused, and said that the incident raised issues of women’s safety in the state.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president K Annamalai also condemned the incident, calling it “disgraceful”. Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) general secretary TTV Dhinakaran and AIADMK’s former interim general secretary VK Sasikala also condemned the government’s stand on the incident. “How can this government give protection to the entire state if they can’t control their own party members?”
Meanwhile, DMK MLA Prabhakar Raja has denied that the two functionaries sexually harassed the constable, claiming that their “hands must have touched by mistake”. It has also been reported that the MLA spoke on behalf of the two functionaries even on the day of the event.
Source: The News Minute