Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Dec 31: A female Corporator has accused Mayor of Srinagar, Junaid Matoo, of sexual harassment and physical assault while the latter has denied it as baseless allegations.
She has lodged a complaint in Police Station Shaheed Gunj alleging that she was roughed up by Matoo and his Personal Assistant Firdous Ahmed in their office. She also alleged that Matoo has been continuously asking her “to come along with him for enjoyment”.
She alleged that that Mayor and his Assistant manhandled and abused her in presence of other Corporators. “They tore my ‘pheran’ (traditional gown) and hurled choicest invectives at me,” she alleged.
She said that she along with other Corporators will hold protests if no action is initiated against the Matoo and his Assistant.
Matoo in a statement issued here this evening said the allegations are concocted and baseless. “I didn’t attend office today and was chairing a review meeting of the Works Wing of the SMC at my residence at Church Lane, Srinagar”, he said.
“At the end of the meeting, I received a call from my Private Secretary (an employee of the SMC) that the said Corporator has barged into my office – physically assaulted the Private Secretary, Hussain and broke the computers and fixtures in the office demanding that a shop be allotted in favor of her husband in Srinagar and a job be arranged for a said person who she claims to be her son. She had persistently put forth these undue and illegal demands to me – for which I have proof. These are demands that I refused while upholding the integrity of my office and the SMC”, the Mayor said.
“I immediately called the concerned SHO and registered a complaint – following which a Police team from PS Shaheed Gunj visited the office and recorded the statements of my staff and especially the written complaint of the assaulted officer along with statements of the witnesses – also government employees”, he said.
“The said Corporator – who is my mother’s age should have spoken of motherly values and ethics and upheld the trust reposed in her by the people. She should have upheld the dignity of womanhood and of truth by accepting her fault and apologizing to the officers for the incident of assault”, he said.
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