1. DMK ward councillor arrested, expelled from party for sexual assault of five-year-old girl
Hours after V. Pakkirisamy, 53, a DMK ward councillor of Ward 30 in the Virudhachalam Municipality was expelled from the party, the Virudhachalam All Women Police Station (AWPS) arrested him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, for sexually abusing a five-year-old girl.
According to the police, Pakkirisamy who is a correspondent of an elementary school in Virudhachalam, had sexually abused the victim, a student of UKG, in the school premises recently and it came to light yesterday when the girl complained of stomach ache.
The issue echoed at the Legislative Assembly when a special call attention motion was moved by the Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami. In response, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M.K. Stalin said, “This government is of the view that those involving in offences against women and children are a shame on the humankind.”
2. Video of Kallakurichi Collector gesturing Daffedar to pick up shoes goes viral
Kallakurichi District Collector Sravan Kumar Jatavath courted controversy after a video of him reportedly asking the Daffedar to pick up his shoes yesterday while entering Koothandavar temple in Koovagam village near Ulundurpet, went viral. However, speaking to The Hindu today, the Collector denied asking the Daffedar to pick up the shoes and claimed the video has been edited.
The incident occurred when Mr. Jatavath had gone to the temple to review the arrangements for the 18-day Chithirai festival, the largest congregation of transgenders, that is scheduled to commence on April 18.
3. Bill to do away with licence for gyms, tabled
In line with the announcement made last year by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, the Tamil Nadu government tabled a Bill in the Assembly to dispense with the requirement of obtaining a licence for gymnasiums.
Mr. Stalin moved the Bill, which seeks to suitably amend Section 35 of the Chennai City Police Act, 1888.
4. Madras HC desists from passing interim order on AIADMK’s April 16 meet
The Madras High Court has refrained from passing any interim order over the conduct of the AIADMK emergency executive council meeting scheduled to take place on April 16. The party is slated to take decisions on enrolling new members and selecting candidates for the Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections.
Justices R. Mahadevan and Mohammed Shaffiq said, there would not be any necessity for the court to pass interim orders as any decision taken by the party would be subject to the outcome of the appeals filed by expelled leaders O. Panneerselvam, P.H. Manoj Pandian, R. Vaithilingam and J.C.D. Prabhakar against a single judge’s order.
The judges also stated that the appeals, challenging the refusal to injunct the party from implementing its July 11 general council resolutions that abolished the posts of coordinator and joint coordinator, and revived the post of general secretary, would be taken up for final hearing on April 20 and 21 as was decided on April 3, with the consent of lawyers on both sides.
5. Eviction begins at Marina Loop Road amid resistance
A day after the Madras High Court directed the Greater Chennai Corporation to remove all the fish stalls that had encroached upon the Marina Loop Road in Chennai within a week, the civic body began the eviction on the western side of the road, triggering protests among the fishers.
In a show of resistance, some fisherfolk threw their fresh catch onto the road.
