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Congress MP Benny Behanan in a letter to Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan demands the removal of state forest minister AK Saseendran because of his alleged intervention in a sexual harassment complaint against a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader
Behanan has also asked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for the removal of Saseendran who has been accused of intervening in a case of molestation filed against a leader of his NCP party for allegedly putting pressure on the victim's family in the Kollam district of Kerala. He added, "A Minister himself has become a threat to the security of women in the state. So, the Chief Minister should summarily remove AK Saseendran, state minister for forest." An alleged voice recording has been leaked in this connection in which the minister was heard contacting the victim's father. Talking to reporters, the minister refuting all the allegations stated that he had called the father of the complainant without knowing about the harassment case. "I had called him after knowing there was some issue in the party and was telling to NCP assembly constituency president to see the issue what it is. I didn't know that it was a woman's complaint," said Saseendran. Meanwhile, Youth Congress also protested at Kozhikode asking for the resignation of the minister. "The Forest Minister has committed a serious offence by trying to influence to settle woman harassment complaint. He has no moral grounds to continue in office," said opposition leader VD Satheesan. BJP state president K Surendran also demanded the resignation of the minister. "He has breached the oath of office. The minister should step down," he said. (ANI)
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