Chennai/IBNS: Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Wednesday said the arrested accused in the Anna University sexual assault case is a supporter of his party DMK in the backdrop of the massive criticism his government faced over the incident.

Speaking in the state assembly, Stalin said the accused is a supporter of DMK but not a member.

"Accused Gananesekaran is not a member of DMK but just sympathizer or supporter of DMK," Stalin said as quoted by News 18.

The chief minister has lashed out at the opposition for doing "cheap activities" and allegedly trying to paint the state as unsafe for women.

"Opposition asks who is that sir? If you really have evidence, please give that to the SIT that is investigating the case. Don’t indulge in cheap activities for short-term political benefits.

"This government has an iron fist on crimes against women. With this one incident, many are trying to show that women are unsafe. Definitely, this won’t work among people," the CM said.

The Tamil Nadu government has come under attack after a second year engineering student at Anna University alleged that an unidentified person threatened her and sexually assaulted her inside the campus on December 23, 2024.

The accused was identified as a biryani vendor.

Soon after the incident came to light, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president K Annamalai shared a picture of deputy chief minister and DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin with the arrested accused on social media.

In a long X post, Annamalai said, "It has been revealed that Gnanasekaran, who was arrested in the case of a student being sexually assaulted at Anna University, has been involved in similar crimes several times before and is the deputy organizer of the DMK's Saidai East student wing.

"A clear pattern emerges from such criminal cases across Tamil Nadu. 1. A criminal becomes a member of the DMK and becomes close to the DMK executives in that area. 2. All cases registered against him are being shelved. Furthermore, he is being released without being classified as a criminal with a criminal record and without being placed on the watch list of the local police station."