Chennai: Two Men Caught On Video Harassing North Eastern Women At ISL Football Match Arrested

On Thursday, 23 November, in an ISL match between Chennaiyin FC and Northeast United FC held in the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor stadium in Chennai, two young men were caught on video to be harassing girls belonging to the North East, said a report by The Times of India. The two men who were seen harassing in the video have been arrested by the Chennai Police, on Sunday afternoon, under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Harassment of Women Act. The FIR was registered based on a complaint from Krishnadeep Menon, a senior official of Chennayin FC.

Heart of the matter

In this video, one particular fan, who seemingly is a supporter of the Chennaiyin FC is seen to be making gestures towards a NEUFC supporter. There were a number of people who were an eyewitness to this incident but they did not intervene. The main accused has been identified as Tamilchelvan, who is a painter from Chennai.

Is this how you treat visiting fans @ChennaiyinFC @Supermachans ?? pic.twitter.com/XP5l6nA4el

— Khalid Mahmood (@TheReal_Khalid) November 23, 2017

Tamilchelvan can be seen dancing in a front of a group of people from the North East, three of them among the group are women. His body language is clearly obscene. He is also seen to target a woman sitting right in front of him. He made several suggestive gestures at her before she finally pushes him.

The second man who has been arrested by the Chennai police is Karthik. Karthik, a 20-year-old is an engineering student at a college in Avadi. Karthik too was seen in the video, he was amused and encouraging Tamilchelvan’s dance. An officer from Periamet police station told The Times of India, “There was no complaint from anyone for two days, yet we kept a track of the suspects using the video.”

According to a report by The Newsminute, an officer of Periamet Police Station, Chennai said, “After the video went viral, we had put out a notice, asking if anyone could identify who these men were. We traced the young woman in the video. She gave a statement that they were harassing her. Once we had her statement, we mobilised our search. The two were arrested on Sunday afternoon.”

When The Logical Indian spoke to Sub-Inspector Edwardraj, from Periamet Police Station, he said “We have arrested the two young men. They are on remand at the Central Police Jail, Chennai. We will produce them on the court, soon.”

The video went viral on the social media and provoked immense outrage among many. Chennayin FC also condemned the incident and said that they have a strong policy against racism, but Periamet Police Station officers have said that it is purely a case of harassment. They further said that they were looking into such incidents and promised of taking strong actions against it.

This is a case where the supporters of a particular football group have been arrested since they were small in number. This does not reflect the true essence of sportsmanship. The Logical Indian condemns the actions of the two men and urges the authorities to ensure that strict action is taken against them.