A woman member of Congress party's social media team has accused senior party functionary Chirag Patnaik, who manages the social media office of the Indian National Congress (INC), of sexually harassing her umpteen times. In her complaint the victim stated that the accused frequently violated her personal space and behaved immorally on many occasions.
An FIR has been lodged at North Avenue Police Station under cognizable sections 354 A and 509 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) by the Delhi Police. It must be recalled here that only few days before a woman member of Congress party students wing National Student's Union of India (NSUI) had accused the national president of NSUI of sexually harassing her on social media.
As per the woman complainant she was assigned with the responsibility of running the official Twitter accounts of INC and was to coordinate with the accused as part of her duty. According to her as a part of general protocol, she had to run the official tweets by the accused before posting them.
She narrated her “ordeal” in the complaint which stated, “When I was busy concentrating on my computer screen, Patnaik encircled me from behind in a manner most immoral, pretending to check the tweets. He also exhaled into my breathing space whenever he encircled me -an act that was absolutely disgusting and immoral.”
Further in her complaint, she accused her boss of “gazing at the contours” of her body almost daily. The woman stated that the accused even tapped on her hands and shoulders which made her extremely uncomfortable.
The woman stated that she tolerated the indecent behavior Patnaik out of fear of losing her job. Also that her complaint to the chairperson Divya Spandana went in vain as she refused to listen and even diverted the topic to her work performance instead, she alleged.
“The complaint was made by a member of social media team and has been marked to North Avenue Police Station. The offence is cognisable and after talking to the complainant FIR has been lodged under sections 354 A and 509 of IPC. Further investigation is going on,” said Madhur Verma, DCP, New Delhi District.