Woman throws shoe at Vairamuthu at Tiruppur event; lyricist makes 1st post after police arrest her

A video taken at an event in Tiruppur shows a shoe being thrown at lyricist Vairamuthu as he's welcomed at the District Collector’s Office.

Tamil lyricist Vairamuthu attended an event in Tiruppur this week, only to have a shoe thrown at him as he was being welcomed. A 45-year-old woman threw a shoe at him outside the District Collector’s Office, where the lyricist was being welcomed by officials. Police took her in for questioning, and Vairamuthu posted his first message on social media since the incident.

A shoe was attended at lyricist Vairamuthu as he attended an event in Tiruppur.

45-year-old woman throws shoe at Vairamuthu

A video posted by Polimer News shows Vairamuthu, dressed in white and yellow, being greeted by officials near his car. A shoe can be seen flying by, missing him and falling amid the crowd. It grazes one of the officials standing near Vairamuthu on his head, but the welcoming seemed to proceed without a hitch despite the confusion.

Hindu Tamil reported that a 45-year-old woman, identified as Jaya, threw the shoe. The police, who were there on security duty, reportedly caught the woman and took her to the Tiruppur police station for questioning. Police officials claimed that Jaya was ‘mentally ill’ and stated that she was ‘constantly involved’ in issues at the District Collector’s office and court. The police have arrested her.

Vairamuthu makes 1st post after the incident

Vairamuthu posted on social media about another event he attended in Tiruppur, without addressing the shoe thrown at him at the Collector's office. “In Tiruppur, the Vetri Tamizhar Peravai (Victorious Tamils' Federation) organised the 'Valluvar's Teachings, Vairamuthu's Discourse' signature campaign event. The AVP auditorium was filled with over a thousand school children and college students. The President of the Vetri Tamizhar Peravai, Ramraj Nagarajan, delivered a wonderful moral discourse,” he wrote.

“The coordinator Tiruppur Jeevanandam, District President Srikumar, Secretary Satish, and Treasurer Sivakumar shouldered the responsibility of the event. Seeing two thousand young hands clapping in unison, I forgot myself,” added Vairamuthu, posting pictures with school children on his X (formerly Twitter).

In 2018, Vairamuthu made news during the MeToo movement when he was accused of sexual harassment by singer Chinmayi Sripada, Bhuvana Seshan, and others. He denied all allegations and chalked them down to ‘ulterior motives’. He recently penned lyrics for the 2024 films Maharaja and Kozhipannai Chelladurai.