TVK Karamadai union secretary booked on sexual harassment charge

The police have registered a case against Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam’s (TVK) Karamadai union secretary for alleged sexual harassment of a woman functionary, and against a couple in the party for subjecting her to caste-based harassment.

A panchayat level secretary of the party, aged 29, raised the allegation against Karamadai union secretary Karupusamy. The woman also alleged that two other functionaries, Sabitha and her husband Pandi, harassed her on caste grounds on the instructions of the union secretary.

The Karamadai police registered a case late on Thursday (November 12, 2026) against the three persons for offences under Sections 296 (b) (sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place), 75 (sexual harassment), and 351 (3) (criminal intimidation by treating to cause death or grievous hurt) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita read with 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The woman, in her complaint, alleged that the union secretary convened a meeting of all panchayat level secretaries on the night of May 18, 2026. The meeting got over at 11.30 p.m. The complainant alleged the union secretary made sexual advances from the pillion seat as she was riding her two-wheeler back to her residence in the early hours of May 19, 2026. She alleged that he forced her to leave the party and later appointed another person in her position. She accused him of circulating defaming statements on her character when she questioned him about the removal. Her ordeal was brought to the attention of the constituency MLA thrice, she added.

The woman further claimed that Sabitha, a person new to the party, and her husband Pandi made casteist remarks and intimidated her on the instructions of the union secretary.

Coimbatore District Superintendent of Police A. Pavan Kumar Reddy said Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mettupalayam, was conducting a detained investigation into the allegations. The woman had petitioned the Coimbatore District Collector on Thursday, before the Karamadai police registered a case.