Congress suspends municipal councillor over sexual harassment allegation

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: State Congress president Sunny Joseph on Sunday announced the suspension of Jose Franklin, Thiruvananthapuram DCC general secretary and Neyyattinkara municipal councillor, from the party following serious allegations of sexual harassment raised against him. A 52-year-old woman from Neyyattinkara, who died by suicide, had left behind a note accusing Franklin of sexually harassing her under the pretext of arranging a loan. In the note, she said she had approached him seeking help to clear her debts, but he responded with sexual demands. According to the note, Franklin allegedly summoned her to his office on the promise of helping her get a loan, sexually harassed her, and later visited her shop repeatedly with similar advances. Whenever I asked about the loan, he told me to come and see me and made indecent remarks, she wrote. When I refused, he made my life unbearable. I have decided to die, the note stated. The woman wrote that she was unable to live peacefully without yielding to his demands, which eventually drove her to end her life. Addressed to her son, the note also mentioned her financial struggles and and the debts she was struggling to repay. Initially, the police suspected that the womans death was caused by a gas leak fire. However, subsequent investigation revealed a kerosene bottle in her kitchen, confirming that she had poured kerosene on herself, opened the gas valve, and set herself on fire. Before taking her life, she reportedly left a separate suicide note to her daughter. A case has been registered against Franklin for sexual harassment and abetment to suicide. The district sessions court has granted him anticipatory bail. Her son told the police that Franklin used to call his mother late at night and harass her, and that his behaviour pushed her to take the extreme step. After her husbands death, the woman had been living with her two children and had recently started a small bakery near her house.