The Hindu : Assaulted women corporators complain to panel

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 11, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Assaulted women corporators complain to panel

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE July 10 . The Congress corporators, Pushpavalli, and Yashodha, have urged the State Women's Commission to initiate steps to arrest their party colleagues in the Mysore City Corporation (MCC) Council who had assaulted them during a meeting last week.

Lodging a complaint with the Chairperson of the commission, Philomena Peres, in Bangalore, copies of which were released to the Press here today, Ms. Pushpavalli and Ms. Yashodha said various television channels had telecast the incident. The culprits could be identified based on the television clippings. "A prima facie case of assault can be made out by viewing the clippings. The culprits should be arrested," they said.

They have also submitted copies of photographs and reports published in newspapers related to the incident to the commission.

The rebel Congress corporator, M.C. Chikkanna, who accompanied Ms. Pushpavalli and Ms. Yashodha along with another dissident corporator, Nagaraj, said Ms. Peres had described the unsavoury incident as a black spot on democracy and promised to initiate action against the wrongdoers. Ms. Peres saw the photographs and reports pertaining to the incident and promised to view the video clippings telecast by television channels. She told the delegation to lodge a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission also, Mr. Chikkanna said.

In her complaint to the commission, Ms. Yashodha said that she was one of the aspirants for the post of Mayor reserved for women this year. The other contenders were Bharathi, Modamani, and Mahadevamma. "When the Congress leaders began eliciting the views of corporators from the party on nominations, it turned out that I enjoyed the support of many corporators than Ms. Modamani," she added.

She said that she went to the MCC meeting on June 30 to file nomination papers after she was told by some Congress leaders to do so.

"When I asked the former mayor, T.B. Chikkanna, for nomination papers, he led me to his chamber promising me to give the papers. Instead, I was locked inside the chamber till the deadline for filing nomination papers ended. I was subjected to mental and physical torture there,'' she charged.

On July 3 when the election of a corporation representative to MUDA was scheduled, the party selected Siddappa, who had defected from the BJP to the Congress, to contest it. Mr. Nagaraj too filed his nomination papers for the post.

"When Ms. Pushpavalli and I sat on one side of the MCC Hall discussing whom to vote for, the former mayor, T.B. Chikkanna, warned us to return to the Congress section before advancing towards us menacingly. He was followed by P. Devaraj, B. Siddaraju, and B.K. Prakash. Mr. T.B. Chikkanna assaulted Mr. M.C. Chikkanna, who was protecting us. Later, Ms. Pushpavalli and I were assaulted," Ms. Yashodha said.

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