Woman accusing Dwarahat MLA of sexual exploitation declines to proceed with USCW hearings
Thursday, 08 October 2020 | PNS | Dehradun
The woman who had accused the Dwarahat MLA Mahesh Negi of sexual exploitation has refused to proceed with the hearings in the Uttarakhand State Commission for Women (USCW).
A few weeks ago, the woman herself sent a complaint letter to the chairperson of the commission, Vijay Barthwal stating that she wants justice for her alleged sexual exploitation by Negi. Taking cognisance of the letter, Barthwal summoned the alleged victim and the accused twice but the woman did not arrive even once citing health issues of her child. Informing about the issue, the member secretary of USCW, Kamini Gupta said that the hearing in the commission was being arranged as per the complaint letter of the alleged victim which she never attended but the accused did. “Last month, we sent a summon to the said woman stating that she must appear in the commission on October 5 or we would dismiss her complaint on the grounds that the plaintiff does not wish to proceed with hearings in USCW. However, she contacted the commission a few days back and informed that she does not want to take this hearing any further because she prefers to fight her case in court only,” stated Gupta. She added that the accused has communicated her decision verbally but the commission has told her to submit it in writing so that USCW can officially dismiss the case. “If the accused does not want to proceed with us, we cannot force it. We called her twice but she never arrived. We have told her to submit her written rejection of further hearings in the commission. Once she does that, the commission will proceed further,” added Gupta. This correspondent tried to contact the alleged victim to know about her views on the matter but she was not available.
