Actor and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) founder-president Vijay, on Monday, called on Governor R N Ravi to press for safety of women in Tamil Nadu in the wake of the public outrage over the sexual assault on a female student of the prestigious Anna University in the heart of Chennai.
Joining the other Opposition parties in cornering the DMK government of M K Stalin over the issue, Vijay, who has declared the DMK his primary political opponent, walking the extra mile to the Raj Bhavan has set political tongues wagging. Accompanied by two senior functionaries of the TVK, he called on Ravi and submitted a petition seeking protection for women in the state. He had already condemned the incident and blamed the state government for its failure to ensure
security of women.
The girl, a second-year student of the university, a premier institution for technical education, was sexually assaulted after her boyfriend was thrashed and chased away in the varsity campus. After the incident on December 23, the accused, Gnanasekaran (37), who runs a roadside biriyani shop near the university, was arrested and remanded on a complaint by the victim. However, dissatisfied with the police investigation, the Madras High Court, on Saturday, constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising three women IPS officers to take over the case. The Court has also ordered Rs 25 lakh compensation to the victim, besides directing the university to provide her with free education and boarding facilities.
This is the TVK founder’s first meeting with the state governor when he presented him with a copy of ‘Thirukkural’, the Sangam era classic ethical treatise of 2nd century CE composed by saint-poet Thiruvalluvar. Governor Ravi gifted him a compilation of poems by Subramania Bharathi, the modernist Tamil poet. Curiously enough, an ‘X’ post Raj Bhavan identified the TVK founder president with his Christian name as ‘Joseph Vijay’. Only hardcore saffron leaders like H Raja used to call him like that to reinforce his religious identity.It appears that the Raj Bhavan too has taken a cue from them, say analysts.