AIADMK expels worker arrested in sexual assault case

An All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) functionary was expelled on Monday after police in Pollachi near Coimbatore registered a case and arrested him in a sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the state.

The ruling AIADMK’s ‘Amma Forum’ secretary of Pollachi town, A Nagaraj, was booked by police for allegedly threatening and assaulting the brother of a college student, who is a victim of sexual assault.

Nagaraj, who allegedly tried to protect an accused, was removed from the primary membership of the party.

“A Nagaraj is being terminated from all responsibilities in the AIADMK for bringing disrepute by acting against the principles of the party...He is removed from the primary membership of the AIADMK,” chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam said in a statement.

According to police, the four accused befriended the college student through Facebook, and lured her to a nearby area in a car on February 12. The four allegedly sexually assaulted her and made videos of the act. They abused her several times, threatening that the videos would be uploaded on the internet if she spoke out.

She told her family about the ordeal and lodged a complaint against Thirunavukkarasu (25), Sabarirajan (25), Sathish (28) and Vasantha Kumar (27). In the complaint, her brother alleged that Nagaraj came to the defence of Thirunavukkarasu.

First Published: Mar 12, 2019 10:09 IST