The complaint against Dr. Subbiah Shanmugham was withdrawn by the woman allegedly under pressure.
Chennai / New Delhi:
A top ABVP leader and oncologist who was accused a few months ago of harassing an elderly neighbor in Chennai by urinating on her door and throwing away used masks there, has been appointed to the board of the Indian Institute of Medical Sciences. (AIIMS), Madurai.
The government notification announcing the appointment of Dr. Subbiah Shanmugam was issued on Tuesday by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The Head of the Department of Surgical Oncology at Kilpauk Medical College Hospital in Chennai also heads the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the youth wing of the BJP, in Tamil Nadu.
“I have not committed any crime. The allegations are minor. This appointment is based purely on my academic credentials. I am already a member of other AIIMS and an IIT,” Dr. Shanmugham told NDTV.
In July, he had been accused of harassing his 62-year-old neighbor after she asked him to pay to use her parking space at the apartment complex. The woman’s family had said that he even harassed her over the phone. They presented CCTV footage as evidence implicating the national president of ABVP. The police had then registered a case of harassment of women, which caused damage and disobedience to the quarantine.
“We have not withdrawn the complaint. The appointment is unacceptable,” a relative of the old woman said today.
The appointment of Dr. Shanmugham as a board member of AIIMS Madurai has now sparked a political furor. DMK leader Kanimozhi asked today if the central government’s move was an endorsement of the oncologist’s indecent behavior.
Is this an endorsement of indecent behavior and also an incentive for other BJP cadres to follow suit? pic.twitter.com/E8ViIMOl6a
– Kanimozhi (கனிமொழி) (@KanimozhiDMK) October 28, 2020
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) MP R Ravikumar said: “Isn’t this appointment disrespectful to women? A person known for harassing women who are appointed to the Board is unacceptable. I request the Center to remove him.”
A senior Tamil Nadu government official told NDTV: “This appointment is a shame. The Center should have done due diligence.”
With many questioning the legitimacy of a state government doctor’s affiliation to a political party, the officer, who did not want to be named, added: “It is unethical. The doctor must leave government service and join politics or resign. to the party post. It is difficult for the government to prove it. “
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