A day after former ABVP national president Dr Subbaiah Shanmugam was arrested over a complaint of harassment filed by a 62-year-old woman in Chennai, her relative has said that they are facing 'subtle' threats from ABVP, BJP and RSS functionaries. Subbaiah was accused of urinating at the entrance of the woman's apartment in Nanganallur and throwing rubbish outside her house. The incident took place after he got into a disagreement with the woman over a parking spot in July 2020 and the woman's family placed a CCTV camera outside her house to find who was throwing garbage at her door. When they caught Subbaiah on CCTV camera, they filed a police complaint, based on which he was booked by the Adambakkam police.
Subbaiah was remanded till March 31 by a judicial magistrate. Meanwhile, the victim's family said that she was forced give a letter in 2020 to the police to withdraw her complaint as she was under pressure. Balaji, a relative of the victim, wrote to the Joint Commissioner of Police, on Saturday, March 19, 2022, stating that they had not withdrawn the complaint. He also sought police protection for the victim and said that she was receiving “overwhelming calls and subtle threats” from functionaries of BJP, ABVP and RSS. In the letter, Balaji also alleged that these functionaries have been trying to sabotage the case.
The ABVP meanwhile has called the arrest an act of vengeance of the DMK government. The ABVP claimed that the complainant lady had compromised as there was a 'misconception due to which the case was filed'.
"A chain of vindictive actions by the Tamil Nadu government against Dr Subbiah Shanmugam began after he met ABVP National General Secretary Nidhi Tripathi and other members who were recently arrested for protesting peacefully at Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin's residence demanding justice for Lavanya. The DMK government first removed Dr Subbiah from the position of Head of the Oncology department at Kilpauk Medical College in Chennai and now the government has retaliated with digging an old complaint wherein compromise is done," the ABVP said.
ABVP National General Secretary Nidhi Tripathi in the statement has tied Subbaiah's arrest to other events in the state. “Such actions will not deter our commitment to fight for Lavanya and our fight against forceful conversions in educational institutions will continue with stronger spirit," she said.
Subbaiah was the head of the Department of Surgical Oncology in Kilpauk Medical College during the incident, but was recently placed under suspension. He was also appointed as one of the board members of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Madurai, in October 2020, a move that received wide condemnation.