Kerala ignores abuse charge against MLA

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In what smacks of double standards on the matter of gender justice, the state government and the state women’s commission appear to be studiously ignoring the sexual harassment complaint against CPM MLA P K Sasi.

Industries minister E P Jayarajan — de facto head of the cabinet in the absence of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan — on Wednesday said the sexual harassment complaint against CPM MLA P K Sasi has not come before the government yet. The state women’s commission also maintained that there was no need to register a suo motu case against the Shoranur MLA.

Both stands are in tune with that of the CPM state leadership which sat on the complaint raised by a woman DYFI worker against the MLA for over three weeks. It is reliably learnt that there are efforts at different levels of the party and DYFI to ‘settle’ the issue. Emissaries of the CPM district leadership are learnt to have approached the woman who complained of misbehaviour by the MLA inside a party office to resolve the matter and she is learnt to have told them that she needs a model disciplinary action against the MLA. The CPM state secretariat meeting here on Friday will discuss the issue in detail.

Meanwhile, the leakage of the complaint from the party central leadership has led to further deepening the divide between Karat and Yechury factions.