AYUSH director booked for sexual harassment in Bhubaneswar

BHUBANESWAR: AYUSH director Bibhu Prasad Sarangi, a senior Odisha administrative service (OAS) officer, may land in trouble as the Mahila police here on Monday registered a case against him for allegedly subjecting a female colleague of his office to sexual harassment.
Police booked Sarangi after receiving a complaint from the 25-year-old woman, who has been working in the AYUSH directorate as a contractual worker for the last fifteen months.The woman, who belonged to Kendrapada district, shared an audio clip and some WhatsApp chats, allegedly featuring Sarangi, with the police as proof against him.
“I was outsourced by a private agency to work as an accounts manager in the AYUSH directorate. It had been smooth-sailing at my workplace ever since I joined nearly fifteen months ago. But the director’s conduct towards me strangely changed from June 28. He started ogling at me and passed lewd remarks in his office chamber,” she alleged.
The complainant alleged Sarangi sent obscene messages and videos on her WhatsApp number. “When I blocked his WhatsApp number, he called me up and threatened to sack me from the job. To save my job, I kept quiet. But his torture on me did not stop. He started talking vulgarly on the phone. I made up my mind and recorded his conversation on the phone. I have produced the evidence to police,” she said.
Police said the woman’s charges are being verified. “We have registered a case against the AYUSH director and started the inquiry. The audio clip and WhatsApp chats would be examined in the forensic laboratory,” additional commissioner of police-cum-deputy commissioner of police Anup Kumar Sahoo said.
Mahila police said they have already sent a notice to Sarangi to depose for questioning. “We will also record statements of the other staff of the AYUSH directorate to verify Sarangi’s conduct at the workplace. We will also seize Sarangi’s phone and send it to the forensic laboratory for examination,” another police officer said.
As the police probe started, Sarangi has become untraceable. Despite repeated attempts, he could not be contacted for comment. His colleagues in the office also refused to speak on the issue.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)