Kerala forest minister AK Saseendran again: Tries to hush up sexual harassment complaint

KOLLAM: Forest minister and NCP leader A K Saseendran landed in a fresh controversy over attempts to broker a compromise in a sexual harassment complaint raised against an NCP leader at Kundara here.
Controversy erupted after Malayalam TV channels aired a telephonic conversation purportedly between Saseendran and the woman's father, a block committee president of the NCP, seeking to settle the issue amicably. The minister is heard telling the woman's father in the audio clip that he is aware of the incident and the case should be settled in a “good manner". However, after the leaked clip triggered a controversy, Saseendran told reporters in Kozhikode that he was not aware of the attempt to harass the woman.

Incidentally, Saseendran had to quit the first Pinarayi Vijayan government in March 2017 after a sleaze audio involving him and a woman had surfaced. He returned as minister after a court cleared him of the charges. On Tuesday, opposition and BJP leaders demanded the minister's resignation. Saseendran called chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan over phone in the evening and explained his version of the circumstances in which he had made the telephone call to the father of the complainant. The minister later left for Thiruvananthapuram.
The woman, a BJP activist who contested in the local body elections, had in late June filed a complaint with Kundara police against hotelier Padmakaran, a state executive committee member of the NCP. The police, however, filed a case against Padmakaran and his friend Rajeevan only on Tuesday evening after the controversy.
It is evident from the voice clip that the minister was insisting on settling the case in a "good manner", to which the woman's father could be heard asking what the minister meant by saying so. He is also heard telling the minister that there was no problem in the party in Kundara and what they had raised was a complaint against Padmakaran's attempt to harass his daughter.
The woman told reporters that the minister was aware of the incident and had intervened in the matter many times. Padmakaran wanted to discuss her decision to join the BJP while all her family members and relatives were NCP members. "He (Padmakaran) asked me if I had joined the BJP after taking money. Catching hold of my hand, he said he could pay me money. Though the incident happened on March 6, I was afraid to speak up, and I filed the police complaint only on June 28," she said.
She said the police did not take any action on her complaint. Padmakaran was also repeatedly maligning her and family on social media while police officers were making fun of her and insulting her when she went to the police station, she alleged.
Local NCP workers, however, described the incident as a fallout of internal bickering in the party.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)