Anna University sexual assault case: Loose ends link high and mighty in DMK govt, says Nainar

CHENNAI: BJP state president Nainar Nagenthran on Tuesday intensified his party's criticism of the ruling DMK government over the handling of the Anna University sexual assault case, even after the verdict, raising a series of pointed questions and alleging serious lapses in the investigation.

Referring to a video statement by former BJP state president K Annamalai, Nagenthran said the BJP had long maintained that key aspects of the case remained concealed.

"The DMK government believed it could suppress the truth by deploying legal threats and cautioning against any reference to that 'sir, ' claiming it would amount to contempt of court," he said in a social media post.

Clarifying that his objections were not against the court's verdict but the materials presented before it, he said, "Our concerns lie with the documents submitted to the court by the Tamil Nadu Police and state lawyers, and the glaring incompleteness of the investigation."

"Today, our former state president Annamalai has posed critical questions backed by documentary evidence. On that basis, I ask the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M K Stalin — who is that 'sir'?" he said, launching into a list of questions.

The BJP legislative leader demanded to know why the accused, Gnanasekar, was released soon after being brought to the police station on December 24, and who the police officer he contacted after the December 23 assault.

Nagenthran also questioned why senior DMK leaders and university staff — including Health Minister Ma Subramanian, DMK's Kottur Shanmugam, and university employee Natarajan — were not probed or named in the charge sheet, despite evidence tampering.

The BJP leader further alleged police interference in filing the FIR and called for transparency regarding the latest complaint registered on May 16. "Let us wait for the response," he added.