Video of TN Deputy Speaker slapping man goes viral, victim says incident misrepresented

Hours after a video showing Tamil Nadu Deputy Speaker and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLA Ravi Shankar assaulting a man went viral, the victim released another video alongside the legislator, claiming that the incident was being “wrongly” portrayed on social media.

The man, identified as Karthik Kumar, a resident of Tiruchirappalli district, had reportedly approached the MLA with complaints about drinking water shortages and garbage accumulation in his neighbourhood. In the video of the alleged assault, the MLA is heard asking Kumar, “Which village are you from?” before repeatedly slapping him, despite Karthik saying, “I have voted for Vijay. I have voted for Thalapathy”.

The incident took place on Sunday, November 9, during the Deepavali festival. Following the alleged assault, Karthik was admitted to the Manachanallur Government Hospital for treatment.

After the assault video went viral, another video was released in which Karthik is seen sitting next to Ravi Shankar and saying that nothing serious had happened. He claimed there was some pushing and shoving because of the crowd and that the incident was being portrayed wrongly.

“I came to meet the Deputy Speaker at his residence. Because of the crowd, there was some pushing and shoving. Nothing else happened. Some people are sharing the video on social media and projecting it wrongly. We belong to the same party and are like a family. Do not believe the rumours of those saying otherwise,” Kumar said.

Ravi Shankar is seen nodding as Karthik makes the statement.

Karthik also said that he had worked for Ravi Shankar when the latter contested elections and that they were travelling together to join the same party.