Chennai, Madras High Court advocate Saranya Natarajan on Wednesday said she had lodged a formal complaint with the DGP demanding action under the POCSO Act against Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister P Viswanathan for “touching schoolgirls inappropriately.”
The complaint stems from a video circulating on social media from a drug awareness marathon held last Sunday in the Melur assembly constituency in Madurai.
The video purportedly shows the minister interacting inappropriately with schoolgirls estimated to be between 10 and 15 years of age.
Speaking to PTI Videos, Natarajan demanded the immediate resignation or dismissal of the minister from the cabinet.
She also demanded registration of a case and swift action under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, and called for immediate psychological counselling for the affected children to safeguard their mental well-being.
Responding to a clarification issued by the minister’s office-which claimed he was merely administering first aid and offering water to a girl who had felt faint-Natarajan dismissed the explanation as a “damage-control tactic.”
“The video explicitly shows the nature of the touch, which cannot be construed as first aid. The minister is neither a doctor nor a trained physiotherapist. Furthermore, the visible discomfort and fear of another child standing next to her is clearly evident in the footage,” she said.
Natarajan, in addition, criticised the cybercrime department and the education department for failing to block or blur the faces of the minor children in the widely circulated video.
