An FIR was lodged against Orissa Speaker Maheswar Mohanty on Thursday for allegedly harassing a woman employee of the Assembly and seeking sexual favours from her.
Gayatri Panda, a suspended woman marshal of Orissa Legislative Assembly (OLA), has mentioned in her FIR that Speaker Mohanty’s behaviour towards her had become intolerable in the last few days.
The written complaint of Panda handed over to the mahila police station here said, “I was under acute mental strain as the Speaker was repeatedly making indecent gestures towards me, sending vehicles to my residence at midnight and persuading through his staff to have sexual relationship with me.”
The complaint having Panda’s signature was handed over to the police by social activist Rituparna Mohanty. On Panda’s absence to register the FIR, Rituparna said, “After she went public with her allegations, she is receiving threat calls. She is now concerned about her safety. She authorised us to register the FIR.”
Mohanty has denied the allegations against him as baseless.
Meanwhile, the House was completely paralysed on Thursday as the entire Opposition intensified its campaign demanding the Speaker’s resignation. Congress MLAs sat on a dharna on the Speaker’s podium and did not allow the Deputy Speaker to conduct the proceedings.
On the Opposition’s demand for the resignation of the Speaker, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, “No one should be asked to resign without an inquiry. This matter pertains to the Speaker. The inquiry should be done by MLAs and not by an external agency.”
{{/usCountry}}On the Opposition’s demand for the resignation of the Speaker, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, “No one should be asked to resign without an inquiry. This matter pertains to the Speaker. The inquiry should be done by MLAs and not by an external agency.”
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