Tamil Nadu’s Minister for Higher Education P Viswanathan on Thursday, June 25, issued a statement accusing the media of portraying his act of rubbing the feet of girl students with a “malicious intent.” The Minister likened his act to that of a father helping his daughter.
“Imputing ulterior motives to my actions in this matter shocks me deeply. I express my regret for any situation that may have arisen where my approach was misunderstood in some way,” the statement said.
The Minister recently came under fire for his act of touching the feet of girl students who had participated in a marathon raising awareness against the use of drugs and sexual crimes against women.
A video from the event, which was shared on social media, shows the Minister interacting with students, and then touching the feet and legs of girl participants and cracking their toe knuckles while speaking with them.
The Minister in his clarification said that he had his intention was to provide first aid to the participants who had participated in the 4 km marathon. According to him, some students had fainted due to the heat, for which he had to intervene.
“In the awareness marathon competition held in Madurai against drug abuse and sexual crimes against women, some students—both male and female—participated and covered a distance of 4 km, due to which a few fainted from the intense heat. The first aid I provided to them has been portrayed in the media with malicious intent. The assistance I offered with a humanitarian spirit, in the manner of a father to a daughter, being misrepresented causes me immense pain,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, a DMK member, Saranya Natarajan, has filed a complaint against the Minister, accusing him of deliberate physical contact with minor girls during the event. She sought action under Sections 11 and 12 (sexual harassment) of the POCSO Act and relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Saranya told news agency PTI that the video was “intolerable to watch.”
“The Higher Education Minister, School Education Minister and cyber crime police should stop circulating the video as it is going viral without blurring the children,” she had said.