Madras High Court takes suo motu cognisance of Anna University assault case

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], December 27 (ANI): Madras High Court on Friday took suo motu cognisance of an alleged sexual assault of a student at Anna University here.
A second-year student of Anna University was allegedly sexually assaulted by a man on the university campus on the night of December 23. One individual has been arrested in connection with the case.
A division bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and V Lakshminarayanan initiated the suo motu petition following a request made by an advocate, R Varalakshmi. However, the bench refrained from passing any order as the case needed to be listed by the Chief Justice.
The High Court came heavily down on police for leaking the identity of the student who was sexually assaulted.The court adjourned the matter till 10:30 am tomorrow.
Advocate R Varalakshmi, speaking to ANI, said that the court raised a lot of questions about the lack of surveillance cameras, about the work of the Internal complaint committee of Anna University and the lack of scrutiny from police.
"There are not enough surveillance cameras working inside the campus. One more person was also involved as per the FIR but it was not scrutinised by the police. Internal complaint committee of Anna University, what are they doing, this is also a question of the court. Everyone has to respond to the court tomorrow, the matter has been posted for tomorrow morning at 10:30," she said.
Meanwhile, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami called for the sexual assault case to be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Palaniswami also slammed the DMK-led government's handling of the alleged sexual assault incident at Anna University in Chennai, claiming there is no law and order in the state.
He announced that AIADMK would organise a state-wide protest on December 30, demanding justice for the second-year student of Anna University, who was allegedly assaulted on the night of December 23.
Palaniswami launched a scathing attack on the government, citing the rise in murder, rape, and robbery in the state.
"There is no law and order in Tamil Nadu. Daily murder, rape, and robbery is happening in the state. Since the accused is a DMK cadre he roamed free inside Anna University campus. On the 30th morning, our AIADMK cadres will protest in all districts in Tamil Nadu on the Anna University alleged sexual assault case."
He lambasted DMK's government for an increase in harassment cases and alleged that under Chief Minister MK Stalin's model of governance accused are roaming free.
"Under DMK regime continuously girls are sexually harassed. There are many news coming that sexual harassment is being done by many DMK people. Now police can't take up investigation and take action on the cases. In the Stalin model of government we are seeing that accused are freely roaming in the state. Our AIADMK (Amma) government made sure capital punishment was given to those accused of indulging in sexual harassment," he said.
Additionally, Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president K Annamalai whipped himself in front of his house as a mark of protest against the DMK government over the sexual assault incident at Anna University.
Annamalai was seen whipping himself and after he completed his six-whip, one of the men standing behind rushed towards him and stopped him from further whipping himself.
He said that his protest was against the "continuous injustice" in the state.
"Anybody understanding the Tamil culture will always know these are all part of the land. Flogging ourselves, punishing ourselves and putting ourselves through tough rhythms are all part of this culture. This is not against any person or thing but against a continuous injustice that is happening in the state," Annamalai said.
Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu criticised the DMK government over the incident accusing it of poorly handling the law and order. (ANI)