SHILLONG: The owner of Ranee’s Abode, Venetta Kharsyntiew, has denied the allegations that the family had assaulted an American aid worker, Theodore Moallem, who was recently arrested for allegedly molesting a judicial magistrate. He was granted bail on Monday.
Moallem was arrested on Friday last and claims and counter claims continue over the incident of water scarcity in the building, which houses a group of visually impaired people.
Terming the allegation of assault as fabricated, Venetta on Monday told reporters that the American national had gone upstairs to their house and switched on the water pump and since this was not the first time he had done that, she went downstairs to inquire about the matter.
“When my daughter (Ranee) came, he started pushing both of us. He even threw tea on my daughter,” she claimed.
The house owner further alleged that Moallem also assaulted her son-in-law Orister Jala, who is also the Secretary of Lachumiere Dorbar Shnong and as a result he sustained a fractured nose.
On the statement made by the chairperson of the Impulse NGO Network, Hasina Kharbhih, who claimed to have witnessed the incident of assault on the American national, Jala said that Hasina should have enquired what had happened before drawing her own conclusion.
“She came 10 minutes after the incident so how can she claim to be an eye witness,” he added.
Denying that his wife had assaulted the man, he said, “When I heard my wife saying why are you touching me, I immediately rushed downstairs and when I intervened in the matter, Moallem punched me on my face.”
“Fearing that he would further harm us, I immediately called up the police. The matter is not what Hasina is claiming to be,” Jala said.
He said the family would immediately submit the CCTV footages of the incident to the police who are conducting an investigation into the matter.
Earlier, the American national had filed an FIR alleging that he was assaulted, punched, kicked and had his laptop thrown at him by Ranee Kharsyntiew along with her mother Venetta Kharsyntiew and husband Orister Jala in the office of the Blind Lead Trust (BLT) located in the building on June 20.
