Chennai: Opposition Dravidian parties on Friday slammed Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay over a spike in crimes against women in Tamil Nadu, accusing him of being in “sleep mode” and advising women to protect themselves.
The criticism followed a series of crimes reported over a short span, including an armed midnight intrusion in Tuticorin district that left a woman dead, and the alleged sexual harassment of a college student near Nagercoil in Kanyakumari district by a TVK functionary.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin termed the government a “sofa model” dispensation led by a CM who prioritised “shooting reels over public safety”.
AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami claimed that the all-women Singappen Special Task Force, launched in June to protect women, had gone into “hibernation mode”, and urged girls and women to carry self-defence gear in their handbags.
“What is happening in Tamil Nadu? Will the CM wake up from his sleep mode?” Udhayanidhi Stalin asked in a post on X on Friday late evening, listing a series of crimes in the state.
Referring to the midnight break-in near Sathankulam in Tuticorin district, the DMK youth wing secretary said an armed gang entered a house while the family was asleep. Mary Regila was killed on the spot, while her husband and son were hospitalised with serious injuries. The gang also abducted her two daughters, who were rescued by police a few hours later.
Udhayanidhi Stalin, who represents the Chepauk-Tiruvallikeni Assembly constituency in Chennai, cited incidents of serious offences against minor girls in Tirunelveli and Velankanni.
He pointed to allegations against a district functionary of the ruling TVK in Kanyakumari, accused of sexually harassing a college student. He claimed that crimes had risen significantly since the government assumed office in May.
“Even after five months in power, when will effective action be taken to control these crimes?” he asked, demanding prompt, fair and thorough legal action to ensure justice for the victims’ families.
Palaniswami demanded stringent action, without political interference, against those involved in the alleged harassment of the college student near Nagercoil.
According to reports, Christopher, a district functionary of the TVK, allegedly targeted the student on the pretext of helping her while she was waiting for a bus.
In a post on social media on Friday late evening, Palaniswami expressed shock over the incident. “When the CM proudly claimed that this administration would be the ‘Number 1 government in protecting women,’ he seemingly forgot about the elements within his own party,” he said, alleging a rise in harassment cases involving ruling party functionaries.
Mocking the government’s much-publicised protection initiative, he asked: “Where has the much-hyped Singappen Special Task Force gone amid these atrocities? Has it gone into hibernation mode?”
He urged young women and schoolgirls to be vigilant. “Here is an affectionate request to the women and girls of Tamil Nadu: if strangers, especially those belonging to the ruling party, approach you under the pretext of offering help, contact the police immediately,” he said.
He advised them to carry self-defence equipment in their handbags, adding that “the pathetic reality of this regime is that ‘we are our own protection’.”