KOLLAM: The woman complainant in the Kundara sexual harassment case has said she never believed that the chief minister and LDF government, which harps on women empowerment all the time, would back Forest Minister AK Saseendran who had intervened to settle her complaint.
She told the media on Wednesday that she would pursue the case. The woman’s father said he would cooperate with the police and party inquiries, and added that he believed that the chief minister would take an appropriate action against Saseendran for intervening despite being a minister in such a case and threatening them.
The complainant reiterated that the minister should resign and that the stand taken by LDF supporting him was distressing. “The government, which claims to give priority to women empowerment in Kerala, has now backed Minister Saseendran. If this happens to another girl tomorrow, all that can be expected of them is this. The chief minister’s message is that. Nothing has been said by the chief minister so far regarding the incident,” said the complainant. There is evidence in the audio clip that the minister was intervening in the case, she added.
She said she had believed that action would be taken against the minister till now. “But if that does not happen, my decision is to go ahead with the legal action against the minister,” she said. The woman has alleged molestation by NCP leader G Padmakaran. The Kundara police registered a case against Padmakaran and his accomplice Rajeev on the basis of the complaint. The case was registered under the non-bailable section for insulting a woman.
NCP BACKS MINISTER
T’Puram: Minister AK Saseendran need not resign in the row, NCP leadership has made clear. The party national leadership is of the view that the allegations need not be taken seriously. Party findings suggested that there was no lapse on Saseendran’s part, but there was lack of vigil. NCP state president P C Chacko told TNIE such an issue is not in front of the party leadership. “There were certain inner-party issues in Kundara. Saseendran being a senior leader was trying to address the issue between two party leaders. He has not abused his official position to cover up the complaint,” he said.