Yadav had rejected Khole’s allegations and lodged a cross-complaint on Friday, alleging that Khole abused and manhandled her at her Raikar Mala residence.
Medha Khole, a scientist with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) who had filed a complaint of impersonation against Nirmala Yadav (60), on Saturday submitted an application to the Pune City Police, seeking to withdraw her complaint. In her earlier complaint, Khole had claimed that Yadav pretended to be a married Brahmin woman to get a job as a cook in her house.
The complaint by Khole, a deputy director general (weather forecasting) at the IMD, had triggered outrage, with several organisations condemning it. Khole submitted an application to ACP Shivaji Pawar on Saturday, saying she wanted to withdraw the complaint. She stated that “her dispute with Yadav was a personal issue and she never wanted to hurt the sentiments of anybody”. Police officials said the FIR registered by Khole would be withdrawn following due legal process.
In her complaint, Khole, who lives with her sister at Sitapark Society in Shivajinagar, had alleged that Yadav had contacted them when they were looking for a woman who was a Brahmin and a ‘suvasini’ (a married woman whose husband is alive) to cook food at their house during religious events, including a ritual called ‘sowala’, in May 2016.
Khole said she came to know from a priest that Yadav was not a Brahmin, and this hurt her religious sentiments, so she went to the latter’s home on September 6 and questioned her about “hiding her caste”.
Yadav had rejected Khole’s allegations and lodged a cross-complaint on Friday, alleging that Khole abused and manhandled her at her Raikar Mala residence. Yadav’s son-in-law Tushar Kakade said, “Khole had lodged a false complaint and she has now taken it back due to the criticism about it. Nirmala Yadav’s complaint is genuine and we want the police to probe it further, lodge a first information report (FIR) and take action against Khole, as per the law.”
