HARIPUR, April 27: A case of alleged sexual harassment by the EDO (education) of his subordinate employee has taken a new turn with the woman officer concerned denying that any incident of that nature took place and instead accusing her husband of being mentally sick.

Mohammad Arif, the husband of Deputy District Education Officer (primary) Saeeda Akhtar, had alleged that EDO Syed Bashir Shah had sexually harassed his wife. However, at a press conference on Monday, Ms Akhtar alleged that her husband was corrupt and mentally sick. The press conference was held at the office of the southern union council Nazim office on Monday.

Ms Akhtar alleged that on April 2, 2004, when she returned home from an official meeting, her husband started beating her and accused her of being corrupt. She said that he stopped her from going to office till April 13.

She said that on April 13, she managed to reach the office and informed her seniors about the situation, who asked her to approach the district police officer with a written complaint.

Replying to a question, she said that her husband was a maniac, who often forced her to bring other women teachers to the house. She said that when she would refused his demands, he would beat her severely.

Meanwhile, EDO (education) Syed Bashir Shah, speaking at a press conference separately, refuted the charges levelled against him by Mr Arif and said that he always held Ms Akhtar in high esteem.

The EDO said that he had sought departmental action against Mr Arif, who is a schoolteacher, for speaking at a press conference without prior permission. In a related development, the local leadership of the MMA threatened to besiege the EDO office if the EDO education was not transferred by Friday.

Speaking to journalists at the JI office, Ghulam Nabi advocate, Syed Lal Hussain Shah, Maulana Gul Rehman, Qari Yaqub and other leaders alleged that the EDO was corrupt.

They told reporters that they had solid evidence of his moral and financial corruption and would present them at a press conference on Thursday if he was not transferred. They also blamed the district police officer for siding with the accused and using delaying tactics in registering the FIR against him.