Silvester D’Souza
Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (EP)
Kundapur, Nov 28: Noted social activist Keshav Koteshwar on Tuesday November 28 denied the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by a woman, and said that he was innocent and was being falsely accused.
Responding to the complaint filed against him, Keshav Koteshwar, secretary of Spoorthi Rural Development and Training Society functioning from Kedoor, Tekkatte here, said that the woman had been working in Spoorthi organization for several years on sympathy grounds.
"She stopped working from October 29, 2014. There was no pending salary due to her, still, in a letter dated September 28, 2015, she claimed we owed her Rs 2,42,000, her two-wheeler and a gold bangle. She had left her two-wheeler and gold bangle here on her own. I have asked her to take them back several times. Thereafter I wrote a letter to Kota police station on November 2, 2017 stating that she can take her belongings whenever she wanted. The complaint by the woman despite all this is strange," he said.
"She writes in her complaint that I owe her Rs 1,50,000. How can there be a difference of Rs 92,000 between September 28, 2015 and November 22, 2017?" he pointed out.
"I had requested the woman through letters dated November 23, 2014, January 5, 2016 and August 23, 2016 to continue in service after she walked out on her job on October 29, 2014. Besides, Spoorthi organization too wrote to her on November 22, 2015 requesting her to continue in service. She did not respond to any of those letters. I recently came to know that she has registered a complaint against me in Kota police station last week.
"My service is my religion and sincerity is my weapon. I will not go forward without them. I respect the law. I will not obtain bail in the case. I will go when the officials ask me to surrender. Let people know the truth. I request everybody not to speak lightly about the organization or the department till then. I will go in front of the media whenever called to explain the matter," said Keshav Koteshwar.
Earlier, the complainant had approached Radha Das, head of Mahila Santhwana Kendra in the town, seeking help in getting justice. Das is now supporting the woman's fight for justice. Radha Das has demanded for immediate arrest of the accused and steps to ensure justice to the aggrieved woman without buckling under any sort of pressure.