National Women Commission Begins Probe Into Sexual Assault At Anna University; AIADMK Protests Across Tamil Nadu

A fact-finding team from the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Monday (30 December) began its inquiry into the alleged sexual assault of a 19-year-old student on the Anna University campus.

The NCW, which took suo motu cognizance of the incident, formed a two-member panel comprising NCW member Mamta Kumari and retired Maharashtra DGP Praveen Dixit to investigate.

The team visited the university to meet the victim, her family, friends, officials, and NGOs to ascertain the facts. The panel will focus on the circumstances leading to the incident, assess actions taken, and propose measures to prevent such incidents in the future.

Meanwhile, protests erupted across Tamil Nadu, with AIADMK members staging agitations alleging the involvement of another person in the case. Scores of AIADMK members were arrested but are expected to be released by evening.

Members of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) also protested outside Anna University, demanding justice for the victim.

ABVP has been protesting across Tamil Nadu, demanding accountability for the security failure at Anna University and justice for the victim. Holding the police officials accountable for the delay in arresting the accused, ABVP said that their focus was also on the need to protect the victim's privacy "to prevent further leaks of sensitive information."

Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) president and actor Vijay expressed his anguish in a handwritten letter posted on his party’s Instagram account. Addressing “dear sisters,” he wrote, “It is known that it is pointless in asking those who govern us, no matter how many times we ask them. That’s what this letter is for.”

Meanwhile, the Madras High Court constituted an all-women IPS officers' Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Saturday to investigate both the sexual assault case and the FIR leak.

Justices SM Subramaniam and V Lakshminarayanan formed the SIT, comprising IPS officers Sneha Priya, Ayman Jamal, and Brinda, to handle the probe. The court also directed the Tamil Nadu government to compensate the victim with Rs 25 lakh for the trauma caused by the FIR leak.