Saritha Nair's letter says Oommen Chandy sexually abused her

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A letter purportedly written by solar scam accused Saritha S. Nair has alleged that Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and a host of other leaders had sexually abused her. According to the letter, released by a section of TV channels on Sunday, the Chief Minister sexually abused Saritha at Cliff House.

It was also alleged that a former Union minister raped her at the residence of a minister here. The letter was claimed to have been written by Saritha while she was in custody of the Perumbavoor police.

Reacting to the fresh allegations, Mr Chandy said that these were attempts by non-political sections to dislodge the government on the eve of elections and that it would be investigated. Admitting that the letter was written by her, Saritha told a section of media that she did not submit this letter before the Solar Commission probing the solar scandal, as she was embarrassed and afraid of the consequences.

It was alleged in the letter that a personal staffer of home minister Ramesh Chennithala even tried to offer Saritha to some Union ministers. The letter dated March 19, 2013, was supposed to be submitted before Ernakulam chief judicial magistrate court.

According to the letter, Saritha alleged that the Chief Minister had misused her close relationship with his family. “I was having a close connection with the CM’s family too. He was a fatherly figure to me. I never expected such a behaviour from him,” said the letter. It was also alleged that huge amounts of money was taken by Mr Chandy from her.

Mr Chandy denied the allegations citing that that Saritha had once mentioned her as a fatherly figure. “These allegations were being raised against me over the last three years and I even turned up before the Solar commission. There is not even one per cent truth in these allegations,” he said.

Meanwhile, sources close to the chief minister came out with statements given by Saritha before the judicial commission as defense. According to the statement given by Saritha during examination by co-accused Biju Radhakrishnan, she had said that there was no sexual behaviour towards her from the side of Chief Minister.

A statement of former DGP Prisons Alexander Jacob also states that Mr. Chandy's name was not among the 13 VIPs mentioned by Saritha in a letter written from the prison.