'Women Were Abducted Even In Ramayana': TN Minister Duraimurugan Stirs Row During Assembly Debate On Law & Order

A comment by Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan referencing the abduction of women in the Ramayana sparked controversy during a heated discussion on law and order in the State Assembly on Monday. The exchange began when BJP MLA Vanathi Srinivasan criticised the state government’s response to crimes against women and urged that Tamil Nadu’s performance be compared not with northern Indian states, but with Scandinavian countries.

Vanathi argued that given Tamil Nadu’s progressive achievements, it deserved to be benchmarked against developed nations.

Responding to her remarks, Law Minister S Regupathy defended Tamil Nadu’s law and order record, stating that states governed by the BJP in northern India fare worse in terms of women’s safety, as per a report on Times of India. He said Tamil Nadu remained relatively peaceful and had lower crime rates against women.

'Women Were Abducted In Ramayana': Duraimurugan 

Intervening in the debate, Minister Duraimurugan cited a recent incident in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency, where a girl was reportedly gang-raped by 23 men. To underscore the idea that no society is completely free of wrongdoing, he controversially remarked: “Even in the Ramayana, women were abducted”, reported DT Next. He emphasised that evil exists in all places and assured that the state takes immediate action in all such cases.

Joining the discussion, Chief Minister MK Stalin took a nuanced approach—commending Vanathi Srinivasan’s aspiration to hold Tamil Nadu to global standards, but also urging her to pressure the BJP-led Centre to release pending financial dues to the state. He further criticised Prime Minister Modi for not visiting the places during national crises such as the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir and the ethnic violence in Manipur.

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