ABVP national president DR Subbiah Shanmugam has been appointed as a board member of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) project at Thoppur in Madurai, triggering angry responses from the Opposition. In July this year, a 62-year-old woman living alone in the same building as Subbiah had accused him of harassment, including urinating and throwing used surgical masks at her doorstep. The incident reportedly followed a disagreement over parking slots at the housing society. The woman demanded payment for his use of a parking slot owned by her. An FIR was not lodged until after stand-up comedian Balaji Vijayaraghavan, who is the woman's nephew, posted on social media claiming the police were not helping his aunt. In her complaint, filed at the Adambakkam Police Station on July 11, the woman has attached CCTV footage and photos that purportedly show the ABVP leader urinating at her doorstep. However, Subbiah denied the allegations and said the footage was doctored and the complainant had ulterior motives. The ABVP leadership also denied all the charges and threatened legal action against the woman’s family. The complaint was later withdrawn as the process would be "traumatic" for her, Vijayaraghavan had said. Several political leaders took to Twitter on Wednesday to express their discontent over the appointment, with some asking whether the appointment was an endorsement for indecent behavior. Echoing the same thoughts, Congress MP Jothimani said the appointment denigrates women and the medical profession. And Congress MP Manickam Tagore requested the Union Health Minister to remove Subbiah from the committee. While VCK leader and MP D Ravikumar termed it as an insult to women, CPI (M) MP Venkatesan questioned whether it was a reward for his disgraceful act.
