DMK orator booked for remarks on BJP leaders; Annamalai & co nabbed

CHENNAI: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Chennai police has registered a case against DMK orator Saidai Sathiq under five Sections, including a Section of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women (TNPHW) Act, for allegedly making derogatory comments against women functionaries of the BJP. Meanwhile, BJP State president K Annamalai and women cadre were arrested for staging a protest over the issue without permission at Valluvarkottam on Tuesday.

The case was registered under Sections 153, 294(b), 505(1)(b), and 509 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) read with Section 4 of the TNPHW Act, based on a complaint by the TN BJP Mahila Morcha general secretary. A week ago, Sathiq made obscene comments about Khusbhu Sundar, Namitha, Gayathri Raghuram, and Gautami, all actor-turned-politicians who joined the BJP.

While speaking at a public meeting at Ezhil Nagar last week, Sathiq passed comments against the women functionaries in the presence of ministers PK Sekar Babu and Mano Thangaraj. The meeting was held to celebrate Chief Minister MK Stalin’s election as DMK president for the second consecutive term.
On October 27, DMK deputy general secretary Kanimozhi apologised to Khusbhu for Sathiq’s remarks. Khushbu had tweeted about the incident and tagged Kanimozhi.

On Tuesday, Annamalai and functionaries of the BJP women’s wing courted arrest when they staged a demonstration protesting Sathiq’s remarks. Khusbhu was not present at the demonstration. At the event, Annamalai said, “When the womenfolk in a State start agitating against the government, then it seems to be a dead government even if it has a residual term of a few years. The State government may continue for two or three more years. As such, the DMK has lost the goodwill of women.”