A video clip of politician KKSSR Ramachandran, also known as Sattur Ramachandran allegedly hitting a woman on her head with a petition has gone viral. Amidst criticism against Ramachandran, the woman in the video later said that the minister did not smack her but had tapped her on the head in an affectionate manner.

KKSSR Ramachandran, who is affiliated with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), is the Minister of Revenue and Disaster Management for Tamil Nadu. The incident took place in the Palavanatham village in the Virudhunagar district. The woman, named Kalavathi, had handed over a petition to Ramachandran. She is then seen speaking to him in the video before the minister smacked her on the head with the petition that was still inside the envelope.

The video of the incident later went viral on social media, with many questioning the minister’s behaviour. Bharatiya Janta Party’s (BJP) Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai condemned Ramachandran for ‘beating’ the woman. Annamalai called for Ramachandran’s resignation within 48 hours in his Tweet.

BJP vice president Narayanan Thirupathy asked, “How can he hit a woman in front of the public?” He added, “He is a Minister to solve the grievances of the public not attack the public.”

KKSSR Ramachandram Hitting A Woman On The Head

The woman in the video Kalavathi told reporters, “I asked him to help me get old age pension for my mother and he promised to do that… He did not hit me but only tapped with affection.”

Both Kalavathi and the minister Ramachandran stated that they are relatives and that the petition was regarding a pension issue. Ramachandran said that he forwarded the petition regarding pension to the district collector and promised to look into the issue. After Kalavathi said she had already submitted multiple petitions regarding the old age pension for her mother, he told her she could have approached the district collector earlier.

Ramachandran said, “She [Kalavathi] remained persistent despite my assurances that the matter would be sorted out, and hence, I casually hit her with the petition, saying we have to look into other grievances too.” He added that the two are related to each other and said, “It’s natural between us as she is a relative”.

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