12 December,2020 12:35 PM IST | Mumbai | Samiullah Khan
Palghar MP Rajendra Gavit. Pic/Hanif Patel
Palghar MP Rajendra Gavit has been booked by Naya Nagar police station for allegedly sexually harassing a woman working in his gas agency.
The 38-year -old woman alleged that the MP repeatedly asked for sexual favours on the pretext of providing financial help. In the complaint filed at Naya Nagar police station on December 11, the woman also mentioned an incident in November when Gavit molested her in front of his staffers.
In her written complaint to the police, the woman stated that she works in a gas agency owned by Gavit and his wife. The woman claimed that she joined the agency in 2004 and since then Gavit has been trying to take advantage of her weak financial condition by offering a hike in salary.
"He used to ask me to accompany him and offered anything in return. He assured me of giving a flat and helping my son in education, but I always refused," the complainant said in her statement.
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"In 2015, when I complained to him that his wife Usha Gavit took Rs 500 from each gas delivery boy, he got angry and abused me. I had registered a complaint about the incident," the complainant added.
"Since then, Gavit insulted me on several occasions. In November 2020, during a staff meeting, Gavit shouted at a manager. When I tried to intervene, he abused me, touched me inappropriately, and manhandled me in front of all the staffers. He also threatened me that even if I register a police complaint, no one can touch him as he is an MP," the woman further stated in her complaint.
As per the statement of the women, the Naya Nagar police registered an FIR against Rajendra Gavit under Sections 354A (sexual harassment) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
However, Gavit has refuted all the allegations and said that it is a deliberate attempt to malign his image and hide the financial fraud done by the complainant and two other employees of the gas agency.
"The woman and two of her associates have committed financial fraud of Rs 1.24 crore. When I found out about the fraud, I registered an FIR in the same police station on November 26. All the accused were arrested on November 30 and were granted bail on December 7. Now, she is trying to book me in a fake case. I am ready to face any investigation by the police," Gavit said.
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