Cochin,June 17 :ON A February morning in 1999, I got a call from Kerala’s then minister of transport and forests, A. Neelalohithadasan Nadar. He asked me to meet him at the government guesthouse at Kozhikode. I was the divisional forest officer in the state at that time. I had never met him before and went with my files and books. There were three other men who left at the end of the discussion. When I, too, was about to go, Nadar suddenly grabbed me. I was caught completely unawares and fell on top of him. Somehow, I managed to escape from the room. The first thing I did was to inform my parents, friends and the Kerala Women’s Commission as well. The panel’s chairperson asked me to wait and watch. After the incident, I received three phone calls from the minister. In the last call, he asked me: “Do you remember me?” My case came to light in December 1999 when former transport secretary Nalini Netto lodged a similar complaint against the minister. I was called for questioning by the investigating officer. All hell broke loose after that. I was constantly threatened by politicians against giving evidence. I was pushed to the wall and soon filed a police complaint against the minister. Finally, he had to resign over the charges levelled against him.
Three years later, the trial court found Nadar guilty and sentenced him to a year’s imprisonment. Later, he moved the district court and his sentence was reduced to three months. Nadar filed an appeal in the Kerala High Court and the case is still pending even as he walks free. Till the judgment is delivered, it is the woman who is under a cloud. I have been the butt of many comments and taunts, but I do not react. If this is the plight of officers such as Nalini and me, think about the average woman. Ten years later, I have moved on. But some part of me has changed forever.