Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai lashed himself six times with a whip on Friday morning outside his residence in Coimbatore.
This was part of a personal protest against the sexual assault of an Anna University student. Annamalai had announced on Thursday that he would whip himself as a symbolic act of protest against the incident.
He also vowed not to wear slippers until the DMK government is removed from power in Tamil Nadu.
The BJP leader said he would pray at all six temples of Lord Muruga, the revered war deity in southern India.
The former IPS officer has been leading the Tamil Nadu BJP with an aggressive approach and has been vocal in his criticism of the ruling DMK government.
Annamalai condemned the police for leaking an FIR in connection with sexual assault, which had identified 19-year-old survivor an engineering student at Anna University.
He blames the authorities for intentionally leaking information where they have failed to give safety and anonymity to survivors.
The BJP president further alleged that the accused, Gnanashekaran, was not included in the police's rowdy list despite being involved in several criminal cases already.
He claimed that this omission was due to Gnanashekaran's close ties with DMK leaders and provided evidence of the accused's affiliation with the ruling party.
Annamalai also accused DMK of trying to shift focus from the deteriorating law and order situation in Tamil Nadu by propagating a false narrative of a North-South divide.
The incident took place when the victim and her male friend were sitting in a secluded area of the Anna University campus after attending a midnight Christmas mass at a nearby church.
Gnanashekaran has been accused of attacking a male friend, beating him terribly, and then dragging the girl to a nearby shrub and committing rape.
The Chennai Police have also come under severe criticism in this regard. Authorities earlier claimed to have made all measures for safety during Christmas celebrations, after deploying over 8,000 officers.
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