IT firm HR official arrested for abetting sexual harassment; massive protest outside firm

NASHIK: The special investigation team (SIT), probing nine sexual offence cases against six employees of an IT firm in Nashik, on Friday arrested an assistant general manager (AGM-HR) of the company in one of these cases. She has been charged with abetting sexual harassment of a woman staffer by two of the six arrested employees, by ignoring the staffer's complaint.Later, the court of additional chief judicial magistrate RC Narwadiya remanded the arrested AGM (HR) in police custody till April 13 as against the police plea for a seven-day custody.The Mumbai Naka police has invoked sections 75 (sexual harassment), 76 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult modesty of a woman), 49 (abetment) 356 (defamation), and 3(5) (common intention) against three accused in this case, including the AGM.Five of the arrested employees, mostly team leaders with the company, who are facing sexual harassment and other charges were sent to jail under magisterial custody for 14 days in two of the cases. "We will seek the court's production warrant to secure custody of these five accused and arrest them in the other cases," Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Mitke, who is heading the SIT, told TOI. "We are also searching for one more suspect, whose whereabouts are not known yet," he added.In a related development, Nashik district collector Ayush Prasad on Friday directed the police and a district level committee to check compliance of Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act measures at the IT company. The committee must check if the internal committee as mandated under the POSH Act has been set up by the company.Assistant public prosecutor Aniket Avhad said the victim in one of these cases had reported sexual harassment by her two colleagues to the AGM (HR) but the latter did not act and ignored the same. "Had this HR official taken note of the complaint, the other crimes would not have taken place. The ignorance of the HR official only encouraged the accused to indulge in sexual harassment of the victims," Avhad said.Defence lawyer Baba Sayyad argued that despite initial custodial remand, the police did not make any progress in the investigation as no recovery was shown from the five accused and there was no need for further custodial remand.Of the total nine cases registered since March 26, one case is related to sexual exploitation under a breach of marriage promise in which the accused is in jail under magisterial custody. Another seven cases are related to sexual harassment and hurting religious sentiments and the ninth case based on a male employee's complaint of hurting religious sentiments. All these alleged offences took place between 2022 and 2026.Minister Girish Mahajan, speaking to media in Nashik, said specialised teams from Mumbai had joined the Nashik police to widen the scope of the inquiry. "Authorities suspect this may not be an isolated incident and could reflect a larger trend within major corporate environments," he told the media.Probe will determine if firm was PoSH Act compliant: CollectorDistrict Collector Ayush Prasad said, "The inquiry by the police and the district-level committee will determine if the IT company has been taking necessary steps, including the proper registration of complaints and maintaining proactive vigilance as mandated by the PoSH Act."Under the PoSH Act, an Internal Committee (IC) must be instituted in all establishments with ten or more employees to deal with complaints of sexual harassment at workplace.An official from the district collectorate said, "Our team is gathering details regarding the IC at the company and any information recorded by such IC, which would enable us understand the current state of women's safety at the IT company concerned and enable corrective action."Protests in front of firmHigh drama prevailed in front of the IT firm on Friday morning when a sizeable number of protestors and functionaries from the Bharatiya Janata Yuwa Morcha staged a vociferous agitation and tried to storm the company premises from the gates at the rear end. A large number of policemen deployed on bandobast duty at the site intervened in time and kept the protestors at bay. The agitating members then staged a sit-in in front of the company gate.(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect their privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)