CHENNAI: Leaders of various political parties, including PMK’s Anbumani Ramadoss and TMC(M)’s G K Vasan, on Thursday expressed shock and grief over the alleged sexual assault and murder of a Class 12 student near Vilathikulam in Thoothukudi district. The ruling DMK’s alliance partners, CPI and SDPI, have also urged the state government to conduct a fair investigation into the incident.
In a statement, Anbumani said the student had returned home after writing her Class 12 public examination when the incident took place, describing the crime as shocking and painful. Stating that incidents of sexual violence were increasing across Tamil Nadu, he criticised the state government for allegedly failing to take effective steps to prevent such crimes.
He also claimed that cases of sexual assault against girl children had increased by 129% in the last five years since the DMK came to power. Ramadoss further alleged that 38 girl children had been sexually assaulted or gang-raped and murdered in the state in recent years. “With this tragic incident, the Thoothukudi student has become the 39th victim,” he said.
Vasan also condemned the incident and criticised the functioning of the police, alleging that the force was not performing its duties effectively due to the government’s alleged negligence in handling law and order.
Meanwhile, the CPI said police negligence had allowed such a brutal incident to occur and demanded a thorough investigation to uncover the truth. Another DMK ally, the SDPI, also condemned the incident and urged the government to arrest the culprits at the earliest and ensure strict punishment.