Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit chief K Annamalai on Thursday declared he will not wear sandals until the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is removed from power in the state.

The BJP leader made this remark during his party’s protest against the alleged sexual assault of a female student at the Anna University campus in Chennai.

“Tomorrow, I will hold a protest in front of my house, where I will whip myself 6 times. Starting from tomorrow, I will fast for 48 days and appeal to the six-armed Murugan. Tomorrow, a protest will be held in front of the house of every BJP member. From tomorrow until the DMK is removed from power, I will not wear sandals. There must be an end to this,” ANI quoted Annamalai as saying while removing his footwear.

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Earlier in the day, BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan and other cadres of the party were detained by the police in Chennai during the protest.

“This is atrocious. They want to crush our voice,” Soundararajan said.

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Anna University sexual assault case

According to the Tamil Nadu police, a 37-year-old man entered the university campus on Monday evening and allegedly sexually assaulted the second-year student around 8 pm. He also thrashed a fourth-year male student, who was accompanying her.

“During investigation, based on scientific evidence, Gnanasekaran of Kottur (a neighbourhood near the college) has been arrested for this crime. The suspect has given a confessional statement. He is doing business by running a biryani shop on the pavement,” the police told PTI.

Anna University Registrar, J Prakash, said the varsity was extending full cooperation to the police in its investigation. The Internal Complaints Committee of the varsity has also commenced an inquiry. “The university administration is extending full cooperation for the police investigation,” he said.

The incident has also triggered strong political reactions. AIADMK general secretary, Edappadi K Palaniswami expressed shock and said it was “shameful”.

(With PTI, ANI inputs)