Guwahati: The National Commission for Women has asked Assam Police to probe the harassment allegations against Youth Congress chief Srinivas BV leveled by a party colleague from the state. Former Assam Youth Congress chief Angkita Dutta has accused Mr Srinivas of being "sexist and chauvinistic", and discriminating against her based on gender.
Srinivas BV, who is currently campaigning for the party in Karnataka, has responded with a defamation notice for allegedly using "unparliamentary and defamatory" words against him.
NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma has written to the Director General of Police, Assam, requesting that he personally investigate the allegations against the Congress leader. "A detailed report must be apprised. Meanwhile,NCW will also be inquiring into the matter," the women's panel said in a tweet.
Ms Dutta has filed a complaint against Srinivas BV at a police station in Dispur. In her complaint, she alleged that she was tortured by Mr Srinivas for the past six months. The letter - a copy of which is with NDTV - says that the accused used "slang words" and also "threatened" her with "dire consequences" if she "keeps complaining about him before the high office bearers.
Ms Dutta also told NDTV that she is waiting for her party's stand on the matter. The police is yet to register an FIR.
In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Ms Dutta accused Srinivas BV and another Congress leader of mental harassment. She said that they humiliated her over her gender.
"This has repeatedly been happening. I had been complaining within the organisation for months but nothing happened. I am on the verge of losing self-respect now because I am an educated woman and I work for women's issues," she said.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that the issue was an "internal matter" of the Congress party. "She has complained to Rahul Gandhi, not me. If I act then they will question why I am concerned about Congress's internal matter. I want to make two things very clear unless she complains to us on the matter, we will not involve ourselves. I believe that Congress's top leadership shall protect the dignity of an Assamese woman. When it comes to me, then l shall look into it," he said.
Senior Assam Congress leader and leader of the opposition, Debabrata Saikia, meanwhile dismissed the allegations as an attempt to tarnish the image of the party. "The issue is an internal matter of the party. It should not have gone out in the public domain. Angkita Dutta, through her tweets, has put the matter in the public domain. Yesterday, Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas BV sent a legal notice to Angkita Dutta seeking an explanation and apology. Now, I have seen that the National Commission for Women has stepped in. In the circumstances and the way things have developed, I am quite certain of a political motive behind all this. I cannot put the blames on anybody without ascertaining the facts," he said.