The Goa police on Tuesday arrested a CPM Kerala leader from Trivandrum over charges of him sexually harassing a woman, The News Minute has reported. The CPM leader has been identified as 45-year-old Vinod Kumar, who is believed to be the CPM’s secretary in the Mangalapuram area committee. The police claim that they are now collecting evidence on the basis of the complaint.

A report in Gomantak Times – a local Goan daily claims that the Margao police had registered a case against him on Monday, and as a result booked him under sections 354, 354 (a) and 506 (ii) of the IPC. These sections pertain to using criminal force against a woman to outrage her modesty and criminal intimidation respectively. The report also claimed that the accused is also a former whip of Trivandrum Corporation Council.

As per the report, the accused and the victim knew each other for a year and a half, with Vinod allegedly bringing her to Goa under a promise of providing her with a fake Portuguese passport. She supposedly wanted one to have a hassle-free travel around Europe.

In her complaint, the victim has alleged that the CPM leader had started to harass her while they were travelling to Goa in the train, and even tried to get her to share a hotel room with him. After she denied, the next morning he took her to his room on the pretext of meeting his friend who he promised would help her get that fake Portuguese passport.

- Advertisement -

There she alleges, he molested and manhandled her and later threatened her with dire consequences if she reported about the incident.

Now as a result of her complaint, as IANS feed claims that the CPM leader has been sent to a 14-day judicial custody.