THOOTHUKUDI: The Pudukkottai All Women Police Station, Thoothukudi district has registered a case against Rajya Sabha MP, Sasikala Pushpa, and her family based on a complaint by her maid of sexual harassment and torture.
The 22-year-old maid, Banumathi from Anaikudi, Thisayanvilai, in a complaint submitted on Monday at the office of the Thoothukudi District Superintendent of Police, said she started working as a domestic help at Sasikala’s house in Anna Nagar, Chennai, in 2011. She alleged that Sasikala, her mother, and husband used to beat her.
The maid further said that after Sasikala was elected as Thoothukudi Mayor, she went with them. She claimed that the MP would sometimes come home drunk and force her to give her a massage. If she refused, Sasikala reportedly kicked her, according to the maid. “On some nights, she wouldn’t let me sleep, insisting that I massage her legs,” the maid stated.
The maid claimed that even Sasikala’s husband, Lingeswara Thilagan would force her to give him a massage and that Sasikala’s son Pradeep Raja would sexually abuse her. She mentioned that though she complained to the MP, Sasikala would only defend her son.
Banumathi also alleged that her sister Jhansirani had been engaged by the family in 2013 and she too was subjected to the same treatment. She appealed to the authorities to take action against Sasikala Pushpa, her husband, son and mother.
Based on the complaint, the Pudukkottai All Women Police Station registered a case against the four under Sections 294 (b), 323, 344, 354 (A), and 506 (1) of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act, 2002. As Sasikala Pushpa’s name was mentioned in the petition as Sasikala Pushpam, Rajya Sabha MP, the FIR also mentions her name as Sasikala Pushpam.
Thoothukudi SP, Ashwin Kotnis, said a case has been registered against the four persons and that investigations are on.