Team Goemkarponn
PONDA: The Usgao-Ganjem panchayat secretary, Honaji Morajkar, 55, was charged by the Ponda police on outraging the modesty of a Valpoi woman, age 22.
The police claim that the accused, a Sankhali resident, got in touch with the complainant and kept sending her pornographic messages on her WhatsApp. Morajkar allegedly insulted her modesty on January 3 while driving with the accused from Panjim to Usgao and close to Ponda with the goal of having sex.
The police filed a case under Sections 75(2), 75(3), 78(2), and 79 of the BNS 2023 after receiving a complaint.
According to the lawsuit, the victim resigned on January 4 of this year after allegedly experiencing sexual harassment while working in the panchayat office since October 2, 2024. Additionally, she has formally complained to the Director of Panchayats and the Ponda Block Development Officer (BDO).
In order to undertake a survey for the reassessment of house taxes within the Usgao-Ganjem village panchayat area, the victim and six other job-seeking girls approached the panchayat secretary, who promised them contract-based jobs. Morajkar gave them the order to start the fieldwork on the day of Gandhi Jayanti.
According to the complainant, the girls were promised a monthly remuneration of Rs 24,000 and were asked to pay Rs 9,000 in cash to Morajkar. Subsequently, the victim and the others handed over Rs 9,000 each month to the accused.
However, on October 15, 2024, Morajkar instructed the victim to stop the fieldwork and work in the panchayat office instead. She was asked to sit in his office cabin and handle tasks such as reassessment letters, income certificates, trade licences, and NOCs for water and electricity connections.
The victim took time off in December 2024 to tend to her ailing mother. The accused started making sexual remarks and sent her obscene messages at that point. As proof, the victim has produced photocopies of the messages’ screenshots.
