Chennai: Viral video shows councillor’s husband misbehaving with woman, AIADMK slams government

The video also showed that while the councillor was seen sitting in one corner, her seat was occupied by her husband Karunanidhi. The men, who abused the woman, were reportedly Karunanidhi’s supporters.

In the video, Karunanidhi is heard questioning Devi on why she continued with the construction work of a wall despite him warning against it. In reply, Devi is heard telling him that the land belongs to her and he has no right to question them.

Soon, a couple of men seated next to Karunanidhi are seen threatening the woman, who in turn is seen asking them not to raise their voices and subsequently turning towards the councillor for a reply. However, the councillor is seen offering no help.

The woman is also heard telling the councillor, “Madame, you are the councillor, not him. A councillor should not threaten the public, they should solve their queries. This is not how you are supposed to treat a woman.” Devi also goes on to threaten to escalate the matter to the Chief Minister’s cell.

Later, speaking to indianexpress.com, Gandhi denied the allegation and said the compound wall of the building is encroaching the road and they had called the woman to the office based on a complaint by the Kumaran Nagar Association.

“I didn’t ask for any bribe for construction, you can see that in the video. I don’t have the need to do that. You can ask the residents about me. Their trust has made me a councillor. The woman, who shot the video, had planned it out to defame us. She belongs to the Opposition party. She twisted the entire incident and made it look like we demanded money from her and threatened her,” Gandhi added.

When asked why her husband was seen sitting on the councillor’s chair and dictating terms, Sharmila said that on that particular day, she was late to reach the office and hence her husband had reached there before her to resolve the queries so that the public would not face any delay.

Gandhi added that following the incident, the DMK high command conducted an enquiry and found no wrong on her part.

Arappor Iyakkam, a Chennai-based anti-corruption watchdog had posted the video online and had said that the government has provided 50 per cent reservation for women in councillor posts but their husbands are running the show. The body pointed out that there is a separate department to initiate action against those violating the rules and asked “when will the government take action to stop the interference of the councillors?”

Meanwhile, cashing in on the alleged incident, Palaniswami took to Twitter Wednesday and shared a video that had a compilation of incidents of DMK functionaries allegedly indulging in unlawful activities. He asked if the government will take severe action and dismiss the accused councillors from their position.