Synopsis
Two men arrested in a sexual harassment and forced religious conversion case at a Tata Consultancy Services unit in Nashik were sent to police custody. Seven employees have been arrested in total. A special investigation team is probing complaints from eight women. Tata Sons chairman stated the allegations are concerning. The National Commission for Women is also investigating.Listen to this article in summarized format
Raza Rafiq Memon (35) and Shafi Bikhan Sheikh (36), both arrested afresh on Wednesday after being remanded in judicial custody in a related case, were produced in the court on Thursday. The judge remanded them in two-day police custody.
They are booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 74 (outraging woman's modesty),75 (sexual harassment) and 79 (word, gesture, act, or object used with the intention to insult the modesty of a woman).
Seven employees - six men working at the Nashik unit of TCS and a woman HR manager - have been arrested in nine cases registered so far.
The police formed a special investigation team (SIT) earlier this week to probe complaints lodged by eight women employees who claimed that senior colleagues mentally and sexually harassed them, and the human resources department ignored the complaints. Some of the complainants also alleged that the accused tried to covert them forcibly, and hurt their religious sentiments.
TCS on Sunday said that it has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards harassment and coercion of any form for a long time, and the employees allegedly involved in sexual harassment at the Nashik office have been suspended.
A day later, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran said that the complaints and allegations emerging from the Nashik office of TCS were "gravely concerning and anguishing", and a thorough investigation was underway under Chief Operating Officer Arathi Subramanian to establish the facts and identify individuals responsible for the situation.
The National Commission for Women has also set up a fact-finding committee to probe the allegations.
City police, meanwhile, on Thursday said that some news channels and social media handles were broadcasting videos or posts which could reveal the identity of the women victims. Revealing the identity of any victim woman directly or indirectly is a crime and it also causes immense anguish to victims and their families, police stated. PTI
