A 43-year-old man associated with Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagamy (TVK) has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl in Chennai, police said. The accused, identified as Dinesh, also known as Pambu Dinesh, was taken into custody after the victim’s family filed a complaint earlier this week.
As per the officials, the incident occurred a few days ago when the child, a resident of Mylapore, had gone to visit a relative’s house in Kasimedu Singaravelan Nagar under the R.K. Nagar constituency. While she was playing outside, the accused, who lives in the same locality, allegedly took her to his house.
Police said Dinesh is accused of sexually assaulting the minor and threatening to kill her if she disclosed the incident to anyone. The girl later returned home and narrated the incident to her aunt, following which her parents were informed. A complaint was subsequently lodged at the Kasimedu police station on May 3.
As the case involved a minor, it was registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and transferred to the Royapuram All Women Police Station for further investigation.
Police teams attempted to arrest the accused on May 4 but were unable to do so as he was reportedly present at a vote-counting centre, supporting a candidate contesting from the R.K. Nagar constituency on behalf of TVK. However, he was later traced and arrested the same night.
The accused was produced before a court and has been remanded to judicial custody. Police said further investigation is underway to collect evidence and examine all aspects of the case.
The incident has caused concern among local residents, especially after Vijay’s TVK had a landslide mandate in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, winning 108 seats out of 234. The party, formed in 2024, are the frontrunners to form the government with party president Vijay favourite to become the next CM of Tamil Nadu.
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