On December 31, 2022, during a public meeting attended by DMK MPs Kanimozhi and Tamizhachi Thangapandian, DMK youth wing cadres were accused of sexually misbehaving with a woman police constable on duty in Virugambakkam. The victim constable initially filed a complaint but later withdrew it under pressure from higher officials who allegedly wanted to protect the ruling party’s reputation.
In a shocking turn of events, a group of men believed to be DMK members visited the Virugambakkam police station where the complainant/victim constable worked. They reportedly threatened her with dire consequences, urging her to stay away from testifying against the accused DMK members and to withdraw her complaint in favour of an out-of-court settlement. The woman constable’s colleagues intervened to protect her from further intimidation.
However, under pressure from other political parties, a case was eventually registered, and the trial is ongoing. Following it snowballed into a bigger issue and under pressure from BJP and other political parties, a case was registered and the trial is going on in Metropolitan Magistrate court at Saidapet. The culprits were arrested and police seized the CCTV footage from the crime area. The incident has brought disrepute to the DMK.The incident has cast a shadow on the DMK’s image, leading to suspensions within the party.
To save face, DMK suspended them from the party. On Friday , a group of men allegedly members of DMK came to the Virugambakkam police station where the complainant/victim is working. It is learnt , they threatened her with dire consequences. They asked here stay away from testifying against Praveen and Ekambaran and withdraw the complaint and opt for a out of court settlement to avoid trouble.
Political figures, including Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai, voiced their concerns on social media, highlighting the alleged involvement of Virugambakkam MLA AMV Prabhakara Raja, who reportedly made a phone call to the police inspector, pressuring the woman constable to withdraw her complaint. Annamalai emphasized the need to address women’s safety and questioned the credibility of the DMK’s Women’s Rights conference.
Vanathi Srinivasan, the BJP national women’s wing president, criticized the DMK’s Women’s Rights conference, suggesting that it primarily aimed at electoral gains. She emphasized that the BJP has made significant strides in women’s empowerment, with 11 women in Prime Minister Modi’s cabinet. Srinivasan highlighted that the DMK government had failed to provide Rs. 1000 a month to women heads of all households, calling into question the DMK’s commitment to women’s rights.
The presence of Greater Chennai Corporation Mayor Priya Rajan, who is the granddaughter of a former MLA, raised questions about the DMK’s commitment to women’s empowerment. Some noted that while the AIADMK had a woman, Jayalalitha, as its leader, the DMK has never had a female party chief. Additionally, only three women have been elected as MPs for the DMK, all of them being relatives of former DMK senior leaders. In the state cabinet, Geetha Jeevan and Kayalvizhi Selvaraj hold ministerial positions.
Political commentator Bala Gauthaman said “in DMK’s history no woman was made chief of the party, whereas the AIADMK had Jayalalitha was its supremo. For these parties secularism means minority appeasement and hatred towards majority Hindus and caste and Muslim parties in their fold. CM Stalin again raked up the state autonomy which is nothing but breaking of Bharat into several states. The conference tried to take credit for the successful passage of women reservation bill because of their efforts. In fact, the women reservation bill was brought by former PM AB Vajpayee in late 90s but it was stalled by Congress, RJD, Samajwadi Party. During the UPA-1 and UPA-2 rule Congress did not do anything in this regard in which DMK was a partner. People know the women empowerment measures taken by the BJP and government. Our President of India is the classic example for this effort. Women were made officers in armed forces. Women contingent led the Republic day March. It plans to have all women march next year. It is an irony that most of the party in the I.N.D.I alliance follows the patricidal and dynastic politics.”.
A senior journalist puts it “Sonia Gandhi misleading Tamilians from real Cauvery dispute, revisits the women’s reservation bill. Congress politics is known for stealing other people’s hard-won successes and skilfully diverting attention from the real problems. While DMK govt in Tamilnadu is in fight against Congress-led Karnataka government over the Cauvery water share, Sonia Gandhi’s team arrived in Tamil Nadu to discuss the Women’s Reservation Bill, which had now entered the implementation phase. in the history of DMK no woman was made its president and district secretaries ( equivalent to a minister) Even in Parliament , only three women were made MP all of them are wards of former DMK senior leaders. In the state cabinet, Geetha Jeevan ( daughter of former District secretary) and Kayalvizhi Selvaraj are ministers.
A couple of days ago, a Saroja from Kasturi Nagar in Odanchathiram, lodged a complaint against a member of the DMK party named Prabhu from Dindugal. In her complaint, she alleged that Prabhu had subjected her to sexual harassment and had sent her explicit audio and video materials. The widowed mother has a son with a disability and a daughter in good health and is the sole bread winner of the family, working daily wage jobs. Recently, it has come to light that Saroja sought assistance from Prabhu for her physically challenged son. She said “I reached out to him because of his affiliation with DMK, but he abused my contact details by frequently calling me. Consequently, I blocked him. Nevertheless, he proceeded to send me indecent videos and audio messages. He also subjected me to torture through video calls, causing me to become depressed.
in March last year DMK youth wing functionary, Hariharan and his friends sexually abused a girl several times over a year, threatened to share the video on social media and continued to exploit the girl sexually by blackma.mailing and love jihad are on an upward graph. In yet another heart-wrenching incident, a 22- year-old Dalit woman from Virudhunagar district was repeatedly raped for months by eight people, including two DMK workers and four juveniles…..
“In DMK , having any number of paramours, illicit relationships with women, marrying daughter’s class mate are quite common. Dravidar Kazhagam founder EV Ramaswamy Naicker marred (at the age of 70 years) his 32 years old adopted daughter Maniammai. During its regime, women safety, crimes against them will increase. Even in the present regime graph takes upward direction. But the talks about women safety and rights which is rank hypocrisy” says a BJP functionary Murali.
One needs to take note of recent incidents involving DMK members accused of sexual harassment and assault. One such incident involves a woman named Saroja, who alleged that a DMK member subjected her to sexual harassment and sent explicit audio and video materials. In another distressing case, a 22-year-old Dalit woman from Virudhunagar district claimed she was repeatedly raped by eight individuals, including two DMK workers and four juveniles.
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