MP's wife alleges harassment in memoir, MLA's son wants name cleared

As a controversy brewed over harassment allegations by Nisha Jose, wife of Kottayam MP Jose K Mani, police have refused to act on a petition by an MLA's son who said the row triggered reports that identified him as the harasser.

Shone George, son of Poonjar MLA P C George, had approached the DGP seeking a clarification from Nisha regarding the identity of the harasser.

Nisha is the daughter-in-law of Kerala Congress (M) chief K M Mani. P C George, a former KC(M) frontman, is now a bitter critic of Mani and his son.

Nisha, in her recently published memoir The Other Side of this Life, said a senior politician's son had misbehaved with her on a moving train from Thiruvananthapuram to Kottayam.

She said the "harasser" had introduced himself to her at the railway station and said he was in Thiruvananthapuram to visit his father-in-law, who was hospitalised in the city.

After boarding the train, he tried to strike a conversation despite her dropping "polite hints" that she was very sleepy.

"Occasionally his hand would 'accidentally' brush past my toes as he shifted his position. And every time he did so 'accidentally", I was uncomfortable and felt violated," she wrote.

Nisha said she even approached the ticket examiner for help but he refused to intervene.

"I firmly asked him to leave. However, my decency made me explain that I had to get off the train in just two hours or so, considerately making no mention of his impropriety," she wrote.

Nisha said she did not file a police complaint regarding the incident since it was a "private" issue.

"People say these incidents happen because of clothes women wear or because they travel late in the night. My intention was only to say that it has happened to me too," she said.

The police informed Shone that a case based on his petition on defamation could not be registered but he could approach a magistrate court.

"I've sent a fresh petition to the DGP highlighting my demand for a probe on this crime under IPC Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty)," Shone told DH on Monday.

He maintained that a probe was also imperative since his name was brought onto public domain through speculative social media discussions on the incident.

In his petition, Shone mentioned that the only time he remembers travelling in a train with Nisha was on a day between March 10 and April 14, 2012.

Shone's father-in-law, eminent actor Jagathy Sreekumar, was undergoing treatment after an accident during the period, but at a hospital in Kozhikode.

"During this journey no incident, as described in the book, happened," he said.

While Jose K Mani distanced himself from the controversy, P C George has threatened legal action seeking a clarification from the writer.