Probe on:The police are analysing CCTV footage to trace the vehicles and nab the accused persons.
Special teams have been formed to trace the men in a car who chased and harassed women in another car on East Coast Road, based on a complaint from a woman resident of Kanathur.
On Wednesday, a video went viral in which a few women travelling in their car were being pursued by two more cars full of men. In the video, one man was seen getting down from his car and running towards the women’s car. One of the cars that obstructed the path of the women’s car, sported a ruling DMK party flag.
While the viral video led to condemnations by opposition parties, Tambaram City Police issued a clarification to clear the air over the incident.
The police said, on January 26, a woman complainant filed a complaint at the Kanathur Police Station, stating that on January 25, at approximately 2 AM, while she was traveling by her car (with her friends – four women) near Muttukadu Bridge, two vehicles with about seven or eight occupants suddenly intercepted her.
According to the complaint, the individuals in these vehicles subsequently followed her car till her residence and confronted her, alleging that she had hit their vehicle and fled without stopping. Upon reaching her residence, the occupants of the pursuing vehicles engaged in an argument with her. However, she denied any involvement in such an accident.
Based on her complaint, a CSR (Community Service Register) No. 22/2025 was registered on January 26, at Kanathur Police station. On further enquiry, the CSR was converted into a First Information Report under Sections 126(2)(Wrongful Restraint), 296(b)(Uttering Obscene Words) ,324(2)(Mischief) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita read with 4 of TN Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act.
“Stringent legal action is being taken against those involved in the incident,” said police, in a statement. The police are doing an in-depth investigation. Special teams have been formed to find the vehicle involved in the incident and also to nab the accused. CCTV footage on ECR is being collected and reviewed to determine the exact sequence of events and necessary legal steps are being taken against the culprits, said the statement.
Deploring the incident, the AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami asked whether women’s right to travel freely at night had been snatched away under the “Stalin-model regime.”
He posed a series of questions: “Does the ruling party provide the licence for carrying out offences against women? Do the police delay its functioning if the offenders are from the ruling party? What Mr Stalin, who has got irritated over the issue of “who is that sir?,” is going to say about this group of sirs?” He called for expeditious action to be taken against the guilty.
Published – January 30, 2025 01:10 am IST