A circle officer in Assam has filed a police complaint against the Nalbari District Commissioner (DC), Varnali Deka, alleging harassment and humiliation during election duty.
Arpana Sarmah, the circle officer, claims she was subjected to “mental harassment, public humiliation, and threatening” behavior by Deka. In her complaint, Sarmah alleges she was assigned the responsibility of managing the receipt counter for the Tihu assembly constituency through a last-minute WhatsApp message on election day, without proper briefing or support with labor management or election materials.
Sarmah claims a lack of available laborers after midnight hindered the return of received materials to their designated locations. According to her statement, with only a few polling stations remaining uncollected past 1:00 AM, Deka allegedly resorted to public humiliation by using derogatory language. Sarmah further alleges that despite explaining the lack of manpower was beyond her control, Deka continued verbally abusing her.
Concerned about the impact on her career and the smooth conduct of the elections, Sarmah claims to have recorded the conversation with Deka. She stopped recording and volunteered to personally manage the remaining material when Deka allegedly attempted to take her phone. Feeling threatened and helpless, Sarmah finally left the counter and contacted her husband. A formal police complaint was lodged at 2:09 AM on Wednesday, citing feelings of threat and insecurity.
Deka has strongly refuted the allegations, calling them “false, baseless, and imaginary.” She counters by accusing Sarmah of neglecting her duty and abandoning her post at 2:00 AM without completing the assigned tasks. Additionally, Deka claims that Sarmah’s act of recording within the election material counter compromised the security of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) received from polling booths.
The Nalbari Police Station’s officer-in-charge, Arup Jyoti Baishya, has confirmed that an investigation into the matter is underway.