Kochi: A day after a video of alleged workplace harassment at a private firm in Perumbavoor triggered a furore, two youths seen in the visuals have come out defending their company. The youths, natives of Perumbavoor and Palakkad, on Sunday rubbished allegations of workplace harassment and said that one Manaf, a former manager of the company, recorded and leaked it with the intent to defame the organisation and its managing director, Hubail, a native of Wayanad. Hubail is out on bail in a sexual harassment case.

The Perumbavoor police, meanwhile, on Sunday, registered a case against Manaf based on the complaint from a female employee of the company from Kollam. Manaf, a native of Vadakara in Kozhikode, has been charged with outraging the modesty of a woman based on the complaint that he made the complainant crawl on her knees on the floor and tried to record her visuals. The young men in the video were seen being harassed in a similar manner.

Of the two youths who came out against Manaf, one was made to walk on all fours while the other held the leash around the former’s neck. The video also showed other youths, purportedly their colleagues, standing and laughing. The video created an uproar, with Labour Minister V Sivankutty ordering a probe. It was alleged that the employees who failed to achieve the sales target were subjected to inhuman treatment.

“The video was shot some four months ago as Manaf forced us to perform the acts. Such a thing had never happened before. We did not know what his intention was. The incident happened when Hubail was on leave. When Hubail returned, we reported it to him despite Manaf trying to stop us from doing so. This led to a dispute between the two, and Manaf was ousted from the company,” the youths told TV channels. 

They said Manaf made others also perform such acts and he leaked the videos to avenge his ouster from the company. After going out, Manaf kept demotivating other field staff and encouraged them to leave the company, they said.

The youths also gave similar statements to the police and district labour officials. Police said the statement would be reported to the court, and based on the court's direction, the possibility of filing a defamation case against Manaf would be explored. 

Manaf and five others, who left the company, had filed a complaint with the police against Hubail, saying they were not paid the promised salary. The complainants were directed to approach the labour department, Inspector T M Sufi said.