Pollachi sexual assault case: Truth will come out after verdict, EPS says

CHENNAI: Disputing the claims of Tamil Nadu assembly speaker M Appavu regarding the delayed FIR in the Pollachi sexual assault case, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said his govt had registered the FIR upon receiving the complaint and arrested the accused.

“The truth will come out after the case is over and the verdict is delivered,” he told reporters. EPS charged chief minister M K Stalin with making allegations without evidence.

Recalling his three-hour-long debate with the treasury amid frequent interruptions from the chief minister and treasury members on Friday, Palaniswami said the speaker had sent only two-minute- long footage of him. “That is why he has given such a ruling in the Pollachi case,” Palaniswami said, questioning Appavu's neutrality.

He said the govt was scared and hence blacked out the AIADMK members in the assembly for sporting black T-shirts and removing black dupattas of women at the chief minister’s event.

The high court constituted a special investigation team to probe the Anna University sexual assault case on a petition filed by a member of the AIADMK advocate wing. The DMK govt, however, moved the Supreme Court against the high court order that transferred a POCSO case in Anna Nagar to the Central Bureau of Investigation, he said.

“There is a mystery in the Anna University case. To unravel it, the AIADMK is seeking to know, ‘who is that sir’?” the former CM said, slamming the govt of the day for asking the opposition to submit evidence to the SIT.

On NTK chief Seeman’s critical remarks against Periyar, Palaniswami said it was regrettable. “Slandering a great leader, who is no more, is unacceptable. Periyar uplifted the poor and socially backward sections. None should forget,” he said.