JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday accused Congress MLC V S Ugrappa of using “below the belt” language against a woman who met him to register a complaint.

Addressing a press conference, Kumaraswamy claimed that the victim, who worked as an accounts officer in a software firm in Whitefield, had approached Ugrappa stating that there was no proper response to her complaint of sexual harassment at her workplace by the police or the labour department.

She had met Ugrappa as he is the chairman of expert committee on preventing sexual violence against women and children at his chamber in the Vidhana Soudha.

Kumaraswamy charged that Ugrappa used “below the belt” language during his conversation with the woman, leading to her breaking down. The victim’s husband Sudhindra, who was present at the press conference, said Ugrappa had used words “which are not used in the presence of women.”

Sudhindra said his wife had undergone sexual harassment at her office. The management - instead of taking cognisance of her complaint - terminated her service. A complaint filed with the Mahadevapura police and the assistant commissioner did not yield any result.
Rubbishing the charges, Ugrappa said that Kumaraswamy was making baseless accusations against him.

Ugrappa said that he was contemplating to file a defamation suit against Kumaraswamy. He said the complainant had met him in February, along with her husband. He claimed that he had, at no point, misbehaved with or disrespected her.

When contacted, the Mahadevapura police said no complaint had been filed with them in this regard.