In viral video, ex-Assam CM's daughter assaults driver, alleges harassment

A purported video clip showing the daughter of a former Assam chief minister assaulting a driver surfaced on social media, while the woman alleged that he used to verbally abuse her in inebriated conditions.

The video clip showed a man kneeling down, with Prajoyeeta Kashyap, the daughter of ex-CM Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, hurling abuses at him and also hitting him with a slipper.

It was filmed on the campus of the high-security MLA Hostel in the capital Dispur region, with other personnel watching the incident.

As the video went viral on social media on Monday, Kashyap claimed that the man was a driver working for their family for a long time.

“But he is always drunk and passes comments on me. Everyone knows about it. We tried to make him understand, and told him not to do so. But it crossed all limits when he started pounding on my door at our house today,” she said.

When asked why she had not gone to the police with a complaint, Kashyap evaded a direct reply and maintained that on most occasions, aspersion is cast on a woman in such cases.

She also refused to specify with whom the driver was engaged as she raised a question about women's safety in public places.

It was not clear whether the driver was a government employee or personally engaged by the family.

Asom Gana Parishad former president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, is not a legislator now but has been allowed to stay in the MLA hostel with his family.

He was the chief minister of Assam twice - from 1985 to 1990 and again between 1996 and 2001.