I will whip myself 6 times, won't wear footwear until DMK is removed from power: BJP's Annamalai

BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan and other cadres of the party were detained by the Tamil Nadu Police on Thursday during protests by BJP and AIADMK against the alleged sexual assault of a female student at the Anna University campus in Chennai.

Following this, Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai announced that he would not wear footwear until the DMK is removed from power.

Addressing the press, Annamalai said, "Tomorrow, I will hold a protest in front of my house, where I will whip myself 6 times. Starting from tomorrow, I will fast for 48 days and appeal to the six-armed Murugan. Tomorrow, a protest will be held in front of the house of every BJP member. From tomorrow until the DMK is removed from power, I will not wear sandals. There must be an end to this..."

At the same time, Soundararajan, who was leading the party's protest said the DMK-led state government was attempting to crush their voice and claimed that police hade detained her and several other party workers during their protest.

"This is atrocious. They want to crush our voice," Soundararajan said.

A second-year student of Anna University was allegedly sexually assaulted by a man on the university campus on Monday night, Chennai Police said adding that one person has been arrested in connection with the case.

Police also detained workers of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) as they staged a protest against the ruling DMK government over the alleged sexual assault of the Anna University student.