TIRUPPUR: An accountant working in the Palladam panchayat union office has alleged that chairman Thenmozhi slapped and beat her with a mosquito bat on Monday, for not clearing bills of a contractor.
K Hamsaveni (48), the accountant, told TNIE, “I am in charge of clearing bills of contractors in Palladam taluk. On October 30, Palladam taluk union chairman Thenmozhi questioned me for delaying payments to a contractor. I replied that no clearance was pending from my side, but she did not accept it and got into an argument. After a while, she closed the doors. I thought she was about to discuss about the contractor, but she slapped me. Besides, she took a mosquito bat and hit me.”
Thenmozhi has refuted the allegations. Speaking to TNIE, she said, “Hamsaveni has a habit of delaying payment and clearing bills. When I raised the question, she refused to comply and raised a baseless charge to divert the issue”
An official from the Tiruppur administration said, “We received a complaint and have deputed a team of officials to look into the charge.”