Mumbai Police register second sexual harassment case against venture capital investor Mahesh Murthy
The complainant said the businessman had kissed her at a cafe in Bandra without her consent in 2004.
The Mumbai Police have registered a second case of sexual harassment against venture capital investor Mahesh Murthy, The Times of India reported on Wednesday. In February, he was arrested for allegedly sending derogatory and obscene messages to women. He had, however, been granted anticipatory bail.
In the fresh complaint, another woman has alleged that the businessman had kissed her at a cafe in Mumbai’s Bandra suburb without her consent in 2004, the Hindustan Times reported. The complainant said since she was too young at the time of the incident and did not know what to do, so she did not file a complaint against him. She decided to approach the police now after reading about the previous complaint against Murthy, the police said.
Murthy said the allegations were false and that he will fight the “ridiculous” claims. “This is age-old news, re-hashed and still complete nonsense,” he told The Indian Express. “This lady makes claims that change from time to time, about what happened at one meeting in broad daylight in a crowded coffee shop some 14 years ago. I sued her for these defamatory claims a year ago, and the honourable [Delhi] High Court granted a stay in my favour. This is her counter attack.”
In November, the National Commission for Women had written to the Maharashtra director general of police regarding Murthy’s use of “objectionable, derogatory, sexual remarks and obscene signs on social media”.
It had also sent various media reports about other women who had made similar complaints. “Even though Murthy has allegedly already posted an apology for some of his posts, the NCW, in its letter to the Maharashtra DGP, requested for the DGP’s personal involvement,” the commission had said. “Such acts not only amount to outraging the modesty of women but also attract action for cyber crime.”
Police in Mumbai’s Khar had registered a case against Murthy on December 30 based on a complaint filed before the National Commission for Women. He was charged with stalking and “outraging the modesty” of women. He was also charged under the Information Technology Act. He was arrested on February 9, but granted bail soon after.
In April 2017, several complaints of sexual harassment surfaced against the investor, with some dating back to the early 2000s. Murthy had also written a post in an attempt to justify himself.