Bhubaneswar: An ex-staffer of Air Odisha Wednesday lodged a complaint alleging rape against Air Odisha Director Santosh Pani at Khandagiri police station. The victim, a Bengali girl, alleged that the accused often committed the heinous crime by drugging her. The girl recorded her audio and video statements at the Capital PS which houses the examination cell for such cases.
Speaking to the media, the complainant said, “He has raped me. On July 2, 2018, I had joined Mr Santosh Pani’s company Air Odisha as a security supervisor. On August 10, he forcibly took me on the plea of dropping me at my place. He parked his vehicle before an alcohol shop. After purchasing a bottle, he drank it inside the vehicle. As I don’t drink, he offered me cold drink laced with drug. He harassed me a lot physically in the vehicle. Then he barged into my rented house and raped me on that day.”
She added, “Next day I came to the office, but went back home soon. On August 12 also, he raped me for the second time in the house of one of his friends Santosh Jali, who hails from a locality ahead of Khandagiri area. Next day, I resigned and went back to Kolkata.”
She said she is serving with Air Deccan at Kolkata. She narrated her ordeal before Air Deccan’s chief security officer September 14 who assured to help her get justice.
My allegation is against Captain Santosh Pani who is Director of Air Odisha. Had I known earlier about him, I would have never joined such a company. I’m into aviation for last four years, but this nightmarish experience happened for the first time to me. I want justice. I’ll fight against him, she said in her complaint.
Countering the allegations, Pani said, the woman had an argument with the staff after which she filed a complaint against them. Later, the office staff followed suit and filed a counter complaint against her. Investigations revealed that her claims were false. It was then that she threatened legal action against us in an email. Later, she resigned and quit the company. Her salary has been released recently. This is a pre-planned case filed against me.