Fact Check: Did Vijay avoid questions on women's safety after Coimbatore child rape case?

On May 22, a 10-year-old girl was found dead near a lake at Kannampalayam in Coimbatore. Police confirmed that a medical examination had found that the child had been sexually assaulted. Two people have so far been arrested for abduction, rape, and murder.

A video now going viral shows the new Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Vijay, surrounded by a crowd, allegedly avoiding questions about women's safety from reporters. Sharing the video, an X user wrote, “Before the election, Joseph Vijay spoke against the DMK for every women’s safety issue. Now, after coming to power, not a single word about rising crimes or women’s safety in Tamil Nadu. Yet fandom refuses to question the governance. If it’s DMK, blame the government. If it’s the TVK, blame the public.”

India Today Fact Check found that the video is from March 28, while Vijay was sworn in as CM on May 10. Moreover, Vijay condemned the incident in a statement on May 23.

OUR PROBE

Reverse-searching the video's keyframes led us to the longer version published by Polimer News on March 28. According to the news outlet, Vijay was caught in the crowd when he went to the State Secretariat in Chennai.

We also found another version of the video shared by ANI on March 28. Per the news agency, Vijay had visited the State Secretariat in Chennai to complain to the State Chief Election Commissioner against secondary election officials for not allowing campaigning in various places.

This confirms that the video predates both the Coimbatore incident and Vijay becoming the chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

On May 23, the CM, in an X post, stated that two accused in the case were arrested. He also stated that he has asked the police to conduct a thorough and swift investigation into the incident and file a charge sheet. He also condoled the death of the child with her family.

Thus, it is clear that the viral claim is false.