A case has been booked against ex-AIADMK Minister M Manikandan following a complaint filed by an actor who had accused him of cheating her in a relationship. On Sunday, the Adyar All-Women Police Station registered a case against him under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including rape and cheating. According to reports, the ex-Minister has been booked under sections 376 (rape), 313 (causing miscarriage without woman’s consent), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 417 (punishment for cheating), 506 (i) (criminal intimidation) of the IPC and relavant sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act. Manikandan has reportedly denied all allegations.

In her complaint, the woman had alleged that the Minister had been in a live-in relationship with her for about five years. While promising to marry her, he had allegedly made her pregnant thrice and forced her to abort all three times. The woman, a Malaysian-born Indian, also alleged that the ex-Minister threatened her family when she asked him to keep up his promise of marrying her.

According to reports, Manikandan who was the former Information Technology Minister under the AIADMK government, got introduced to the woman in 2017. He had befriended her under the pretext of making investments in Malaysia. The ex-Minister then allegedly expressed his interest to marry her even while he was already married to another woman. Manikandan was elected to the Tamil Nadu Assembly from the Ramanathapuram constituency and held office between 2016 and 2019.

Chennai police made two other arrests on Sunday in cases relating to sexual assault. An athletics coach P Nagarajan who was accused by a former athlete of inappropriately touching her under the garb of helping her with physiotherapy was arrested by Flower Bazar Police while 41-year-old Karate instructor Kebi Raj who runs a training institute at Anna Nagar was detained for investigation by Anna Nagar All Women Police.