A 62-year-old woman, living in Chennai, filed a complaint against ABVP national president Dr Subbiah Shanmugam for harassing her, including urinating outside her house, following an argument over parking slots. Shanmugam, however, denied the charges.
The woman, a widow, lives alone in her apartment in suburban areas of the city. After a disagreement over parking area at the housing society, the woman filed a complaint at the Adambakkam Police Station on July 11, demanding payment for Shanmugam using the slot owned by her.
The woman also accused him of throwing used surgical masks at her doorstep. In her complaint, the woman attached CCTV footage and photos that purportedly show the ABVP leader urinating outside her house, reported The Indian Express.
Taking note of the incident, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) demanded action against the Shanmugam for 'harassing' the old woman. Hitting out at the Police, DMK leader M Kanimozhi took to Twitter and said that it had become a routine for the police to turn a blind eye towards complaints against right-wing members. She demanded Chief Minister Palaniswami should immediately intervene and ensure that everyone was treated equally before law.
However, alleging underlying motives behind the woman's complaint, Shanmugam said the complaint was false and the CCTV footage had been doctored.
ABVP media in-charge Rahul Choudhary also reportedly claimed that the footage was doctored, and accused rivals of trying to defame Shanmugam. The ABVP threatened legal action against the woman and her family for their defamatory claims.
ABVP national general secretary Nidhi Tripathi admitted that there was an issue over parking slots, however, both the parties had discussed the same and together with the housing society had concluded that the allegations were caused due to a "misunderstanding".
In her complaint to the police, the woman claimed that Shanmugam had seeked her permission to use her parking slot and when she demanded rent from him, he broke a signboard at her slot in anger. Post this, he kept calling her asking if she required chicken despite knowing that she was a vegetarian.
The woman's nephew, Balaji Vijayaraghavan, a stand-up comic and the founder of a platform that facilitates Carnatic music events, alleged that the police were not helping his aunt.
Expressing shock over the incident, Vijayaraghavan said that if Shanmugam had apologised for his behaviour, they would have accepted it. "We decided to file the complaint as he was reluctant to take any corrective steps. We had serious concerns about my aunt’s safety as well," he said.
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