Orissa Speaker faces sexual harassment charges

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/orissa-speaker-faces-sexual-harassment-charges/61976-3.html

New Delhi: Orissa Assembly Speaker Maheshwar Mohanty is in trouble. He has been accused by Assembly marshall Gayatri Panda of sexually harassing her.

Twenty-nine-year-old Panda has alleged Mohanty used to call her to his chamber alone and even sent a car to her place late in the night. Panda also says the Speaker, who was aware she was unmarried, used to make lewd gestures at her.

"I am unmarried and stay alone. He used to send a car to my place at midnight and ask me to meet him alone. When I did House duty on the Speaker's dias, he would call me to his chamber. I can't describe what he used to do then. It's sad that a place where laws are made is a place that is not safe for women," Panda said.

The marshall claims she had lodged a complaint with the Assembly secretary on March 21.

However, Mohanty has denied the accusations. He says Panda is under suspension for dereliction of duty and is trying to blackmail her way back to the job.

She is blackmailing me, 100 per cent. You must have heard what she said. She says I have been frequently calling her to my chamber. That's not true. In fact, she was the one who came and approached me for an accommodation. I have never met her alone in my chamber during four years," Mohanty told CNN-IBN.

He also alleged there was a political conspiracy against him. "If someone has something against me, he or she will obviously come up with some or the other baseless allegation. She has been on suspension for negligence of duty and disobedience. To get rid of that, she has resorted to this method of blackmailing. I smell conspiracy. Though the matter is still pending inquiry so I cannot say who is behind this. I leave it to the inquiry body to look into this," he said.

The Speaker also says he heard about the complaint 10 days ago." She hasn't sent an official letter. The law is that if someone is facing disciplinary action, he/she has to be given a chance explain the charges. Her reply has not come yet," he said, referring to the case against Panda.

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