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TN: Ex-AIADMK minister booked over allegations of sexual assault by actor

Actor Shantini Theva on Friday filed a complaint against minister Manikandan

M. Manikandan (left) with former CM Edappadi Palaniswami | Official Facebook account of M. Manikandan

Former Tamil Nadu minister M. Manikandan has been booked under various sections in a sexual assault case after a well-known actor accused him of “cheating, blackmailing and sexually exploiting her for the past five years”. The former minister, an AIADMK leader, has been booked under charges including rape, cheating, criminal intimidation and causing miscarriage without woman’s consent.

Chennai’s Adyar all-women police station on Sunday registered the case in crime no 5 of 2021, against former minister Manikandan and his aide Bharani under IPC sections 313 (miscarriage without woman’s consent), section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), section 417 (cheating), section 376 (rape, which carries maximum sentence of life), section 506 (i) (criminal intimidation) and section 67A.

Actor Shantini Theva on Friday filed a complaint against minister Manikandan, accusing him of promising to marry her and then abandoning her after she got pregnant. In the complaint, she also accused him of forcing her to get an abortion and threatening her and her family. Manikandan has, reportedly, denied all allegations made and has claimed he did not know Shantini at all. She also said in her complaint he duped her by claiming that he plans to invest in Malaysia, where her family is based.