Coimbatore/Tiruvannamalai: A TVK union secretary was booked on charges of sexually harassing a woman functionary of TVK in Coimbatore on Friday. Meanwhile in Tiruvannamalai, women cadres of TVK protested against a functionary of their party, accusing him of sexually harassing them. They locked the TVK office in Arni.In the Coimbatore incident, police filed a case against Karuppusamy, the Karamadai union secretary of TVK under sections 296(b), 75 and 351(3) of the BNS, accusing him of sexual harassment and intimidation. Police also slapped the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on him as the complainant, a woman member of TVK, alleged that he resorted to caste-based abuse. Karuppusamy’s associates Sabitha and her husband, who were also from TVK, have also been booked.The complainant said she started facing harassing from the Karuppusamy after an argument with him during a meeting few months ago. Friction resurfaced during a Diwali welfare programme organised for sanitation workers, when she questioned alleged irregularities in the panchayat.The woman alleged that she was removed from her panchayat secretary post after she had refused to comply with Karuppusamy’s instructions. She alleged that she was followed by miscreants associated with the accused, who threatened and intimidated her. She cited WhatsApp chat as proof of the alleged harassment.Meanwhile, women functionaries and party members of TVK locked the party office in Arni, Tiruvannamalai district and smeared black ink on the photograph of Tiruvannamalai north district secretary Sathya alias Sathyaraj, demanding his immediate removal from the post. Protesting women functionaries alleged that Sathyaraj spoke to them in a derogatory and vulgar manner, and threatened them. They also accused him of extorting money from them.Police rushed to the spot, held talks with the agitating members, and instructed them to disperse, following which the crowd cleared the area.
