DMK MLA’s son condemns prolonged police questioning of his father in defamation case

THOOTHUKUDI: Arrested DMK legislator G V Markandeyan’s son Akshay hit out at the police for subjecting his father to nearly 13 hours of questioning in a defamation case and said he would move the court against the treatment meted out by the police.

Despite his father facing health issues including diabetes and heart conditions, he was subjected to questioning that stretched out to 13-hours in the defamation case over a speech that lasted only for five minutes, he said.

“He was intimidated and threatened at gunpoint to deliver specific statements to suit the ruling party's political agenda,” Akshay claimed.

The Vilathikulam MLA was arrested by the police on Monday in an escalation of the tussle between the ruling TVK and main opposition DMK, for his purported "we will crush your bones" remark against Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay.

After questioning, the legislator was produced by police before a local court, which remanded him to 14-day judicial custody.

Speaking on the political controversy surrounding the arrest of Markandeyan by the Thoothukudi police, Akshay told reporters late on Monday night, invoking a metaphor to compare the legislative assembly members to a “brain” that controls the body.

“The assembly is the ‘gate’ or entry point to that 'brain'. The Chief Minister suggests that legislators should be closed or contained within the halls of the assembly. It is effectively an attempt to stop the ‘brain’ from functioning properly,” he said.

He claimed that by controlling the assembly in this manner, the ruling party was attempting to seize power over the legislative process to enforce its own agenda and actions, which Akshay suggested is a dangerous threat to the democratic process.

“The 13-hour interrogation was excessive and wrong because the original video of the speech that led to the defamation case was only five minutes long. Furthermore, my father is a patient suffering from diabetes and heart problems,” he said and added that his father was pressured at “gunpoint.”