Sex abuse charges filed against Chandy
Former chief minister says state government is trying to divert attention from Sabarimala issue
Former Kerala chief minister says it is a bid to divert attention from Sabarimala issue |
Former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy and his Congress party colleague K.C. Venugopal have been slapped with sexual abuse charges, with the state police filing a first information report (FIR) on the matter.
The allegation was made by Saritha S. Nair, a prime accused in Kerala’s 2013 solar scam, in which she is alleged to have duped several people by offering them handsome returns on investments in solar and wind power projects.
The solar case rocked the state in the last two years of the Congress government headed by Chandy, and political observers believe that the solar scam was one of the key ■ reasons for his government being toppled in the assembly elections in 2016.
According to the FIR, Chandy sexually abused Nair at the Cliff House, the chief minister’s official residence, in 2012, and Venugopal abused her in one of the ministerial residences in the state capital.
Chandy denied the allegation. Speaking to mediapersons on Sunday, the former chief minister said: “The Sabarimala issue is burning and the government is trying to divert attention from that.”