BHUBANESWAR: Trouble seems to be mounting for BJP MLA from Nilagiri Santosh Khatua over his derogatory remarks against BJD leader and spokesperson Lekhashree Samantasinghar with police registering a case in the connection.
Acting on a formal complaint lodged by Lekhashree with Mahila Police Station here on Friday, a case has been registered under sections 75(2)(sexual harassment), 79 (insulting modesty of a woman), 296 (obscene act in public places) and 356 (making or publishing defamatory statements) of BNS.
She has demanded immediate arrest of Khatua for making offensive and sexually-coloured remarks against her, thereby outraging her modesty. The BJD leader alleged that Khatua went to the extent of describing her as a prostitute and kingpin of a sex racket. The MLA’s public statement has demeaned her as a woman and a politician, she alleged.
Lekhashree said in the FIR that Khatua has committed a cognisable offence by his public utterances about a woman and describing her as a prostitute and kingpin of a sex racket. He has violated the rights of woman by making such a statement, she added.
“Khatua is guilty of outraging the modesty of a woman which is not only physical but moral and psychological. By publicly describing me as a prostitute without an iota of evidence, he has caused me deep shame, mental trauma, extreme anxiety and a sense of helplessness,” she said.
Khatua had made the derogatory statement on Thursday while reacting to an allegation made by Lekhashree about his alleged involvement in elephant poaching.
The BJD leader had demanded action against Khatua as three of the five accused persons in the case were arrested from his farmhouse in Nilagiri area.
Lekhashree said as a public figure and an elected representative, Khatua was liable to answer questions of interest which she, as a spokesperson of BJD was raising from the party forum in the party office. Scared by his involvement in the crime of elephant poaching at Nilagiri and his role in hiding the criminals at his farmhouse, he has adopted the means of criminal intimidation to silence my voice, she alleged.
Several BJD leaders including leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik, Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallick and others have condemned the remarks made by Khatua and demanded strong action against him.