BJP leader Khushbu Sundar at the protest in Madurai
| Photo Credit: X/@BJP4TamilNadu
The Madurai City police on Friday (January 3, 2025) morning arrested BJP functionary Khushbu Sundar and other members of the party’s women’s wing as they were attempting to take out a ‘justice rally’ from Madurai to Chennai over the Anna University sexual assault case. The police had not granted permission for the rally.
Besides raising slogans, the protesters who gathered near Simmakkal adorned themselves with flowers and held fire pots in their hands, demanding a complete and thorough investigation into the sexual assault on a student of Anna University on December 23, 2024.
Addressing the protesters, Ms. Khushbu, who is the BJP’s national executive committee member, said they knew they would not be given permission to hold the rally as it was against the DMK government.
“Unlike protests organised by other parties, we have not given any money or food [to the protesters] for their presence. Voluntarily, many women — in addition to those affiliated with the party — have supported us through their presence,” she said.
This is not an issue concerning the BJP alone; every single person with a woman in their house sees this as their problem, she said.
The women members who were detained, including BJP Mahila Morcha president Umarathi Rajan, were lodged in a private hall.
‘Highly condemnable’
Condemning the arrest, BJP national co-in-charge for Tamil Nadu, Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy, charged that the “blatant suppression” of peaceful protests reflected the DMK government’s failure to stand with the survivor and its “deliberate shielding” of repeat offenders within its ranks.
“The arrest of Tamil Nadu BJP Mahila Morcha president Umarathi Rajan and Khushbu Sundar, who led the justice rally, is highly condemnable,” he added.
‘True face of DMK govt. exposed’
BJP Tamil Nadu unit president K. Annamalai “strongly condemned” the arrest of the women cadre. “The true face of the DMK government, which is acting in an anti-democratic manner to protect DMK’s sex offenders, is being exposed to the public,” he alleged in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Published – January 03, 2025 02:29 pm IST
