Himachal woman levels sexual exploitation allegations against SDM, officers terms them baseless

Shimla/Hamirpur Sep 26 (PTI) A woman from Kullu has levelled allegations of sexual exploitation against the sub-divisional magistrate of Sujanpur but the officer has dismissed the charges as baseless.

SDM Vikas Shukla in a video released on Friday said the case has already been investigated at three levels and he has been found innocent.

He termed the allegations baseless.

A panchayat secretary from Kullu district, the woman had accused Shukla of sexual exploitation and alleged that on August 24, 2024 when he was the SDM of Kullu, he called her to his residence and tried to rape her along with a friend.

When she resisted, she was beaten up and the incident was filmed by Shukla's friend, she had alleged.

She also said that the police did not take any action in this regard and the chief secretary directed the police to investigate the matter.

In the video, Shukla maintained that "a woman used to come to me with small works and gradually she developed infatuation towards me and started calling me frequently. I tried to explain to her several times that there are certain restrictions but she started following and harassing me".

"Once, the woman even came to my house and when confronted, she became angry and started making up stories," he added.

Meanwhile, the Himachal Pradesh High Court, which had sought status report from the police regarding a case of rape on the pretext of marriage registered against a Himachal Pradesh Administrative Services officer posted as SDM Una Vishwa Mohan Dev Chauhan, on Friday deferred the hearing of the anticipatory bail for October 3.

The advocate of the officer, who is underground, had filed for anticipatory bail in the high court after a case was registered against the SDM following a complaint lodged by the woman alleging that he forced her into having physical relations with him after proposing marriage, police had said on Wednesday. PTI COR BPL ZMN