Bhawanipatana: Pallishree Patnaik, a lecturer in a government college and writer, lodged a defamation case against noted litterateur Haraprasad Das for allegedly harassing her on social media.

The Kalahandi-based writer filed the defamation suit at the court of Civil Judge Senior Division, Bhawanipatna on Wednesday seeking Rs 50 lakh in damages.

Sources said her statement was also recorded under Section 161 and 164 of the CrPC.

Earlier this month, Pallishree had lodged an FIR at the Bhawanipatana Town police station seeking stringent action against Das.

In her complaint, she alleged that Das had first befriended her on social media platform Facebook and then started sending obscene messages and sought sexual favours on the pretext of boosting her literary career.

Earlier this month, the acclaimed litterateur had lodged a criminal defamation suit against eight persons including Patnaik at Bhubaneswar ADJM court and a civil defamation case at the court of Civil Judge Senior Division.

On August 1, a group of intellectuals had met State Commission for Women seeking action against Das for sexually harassing some woman writers including Patnaik.

Das had refuted the allegations saying that it could have been a hacker’s job and claimed he was inactive on Facebook for long.