TN BJP chief Annamalai asks, WFI chief booked, but why no FIR against Vairamuthu in MeToo case

Annamalai, the leader of the Tamil Nadu BJP, criticised MK Stalin for supporting the wrestlers’ protest and claimed that the law is being upheld in this instance despite the fact that Vairamuthu, a poet-lyricist close to Stalin who has been accused of sexual harassment, has not even had a FIR filed against him.

 

After a fight with security personnel who attempted to stop them from marching to the new Parliament building as it was being inaugurated, wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Bajrang Punia along with other protesters were booked for rioting and obstructing public servant in the discharge of duty on Sunday.

 

Soon after, the Delhi Police declared that they would not be permitted to return to the Jantar Mantar location where they had been staging their sit-in for more than a month.

 

MK Stalin in a tweet condemned the police action and said, ‘Police detaining them after dragging them is condemnable. This shows the Sengol has bent the very first day. Is it fair that such atrocity should also happen on a day of (new Parliament building) inauguration that sidestepped the President and amid opposition boycott.’

 

Annamalai asked that, ‘There were 19 complaints of sexual harassment against Vairamuthu, the right-hand man of Tamil Nadu chief minister. I am asking the CM, have you filed any FIR against him.’

 

Annamalai stated a FIR has been registered against the BJP MP and an investigation is ongoing when comparing Vairamuthu’s issue to that of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Singh, who has been accused of sexual harassment.

 

‘I haven’t seen anywhere that a complainant is saying arrest the person first and then I will talk. The law cannot function like that. If he is found guilty then 100% action will be taken against him,’ Annamalai told news agency ANI.

 

‘In Tamil Nadu, not even a FIR was filed against Vairamuthu,’ he claimed. Tamil poet and lyricist Vairamuthu had already been charged with sexual harassment.

 

Annamalai added that the wrestlers were targeted by the Delhi Police on Sunday because they lacked authorization to stage a march to the new Parliament. ‘Taking one footage and blowing it up saying the Delhi Police is manhandling, that is not the way it operates,’ Annamalai said.