Amid allegations that she is the “mastermind” in the Nashik IT company sexual assault scandal, TCS employee Nida Khan is set to seek anticipatory bail before the sessions court, her lawyer Baba Syed said.
“It will be done in two days,” Al-Sayed told HT earlier. Khan’s name has drawn controversy in the alleged BPO sexual assault and religious coercion scandal linked to TCS in Nashik. The issue came to the fore after the Nashik police filed an FIR based on the complaint of a 23-year-old BPO employee accusing her senior colleague Danish Shaikh of sexual harassment and having sexual relations under the false pretext of marriage.
The case has been filed under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections including Section 69 (sexual intercourse with false promise of marriage), 75 (sexual harassment), 299 (insulting religion or religious belief), and 3(5) (constructive or joint liability).
Of the nine FIRs filed, Khan was named in an FIR lodged at Devlali police station on March 26 related to religious harassment.
About eight people have reportedly been arrested in the case, while the alleged mastermind, ‘HR chief’ Khan, is on the run. However, her family claimed that Khan was pregnant and in her home, contrary to police claims that she was on the run.
According to the police, HR Director Nida Khan is the alleged “mastermind” who tried to suppress the complaint and was allegedly protecting the accused, ANI reported.
During the investigation, police officials found nearly 78 “suspicious” call records, emails and chats exchanged between the accused. Police have found evidence of possible financial transactions as well.
The family denies the police allegations
Khan’s family rejected the allegations of her being a “mastermind” and told her that she had joined BPO in December 2021, but not as an HR employee. She worked as a telephone caller and was not among the senior staff.
“My daughter did none of these things. She simply went to work every day and got into trouble just to say hello and goodbye to people,” Nida’s father told HT.
Her brother also said that her photo was taken from Instagram and went viral on social media with the tag of ‘HR Head’ of the Nashik unit of the BPO linked to TCS. Khan’s brother said the same photo is being shared on social media as well.
The proud father regrets it now
He says she was once proud of her daughter for getting a job in a multinational company, but now he regrets encouraging her to work. “It would have been better if she had not worked at all,” said the father, who runs a lumber company in the city. “Such terrible things are being said about her, and they are all untrue. We were very upset. Her mother has fallen ill.”
Her uncle also claimed that she is “not running from anything” and I want to say that so far no police officer has shown up at our door to ask about her whereabouts.
Tata orders an internal investigation
Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran ordered an internal probe as well, calling such allegations “disturbing and distressing”.
Chandrasekaran said in a statement that the matter is being treated “with utmost seriousness” and action has already been taken against the accused employees. He added that the company is fully cooperating with the ongoing investigations.
“The Tata Group maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of coercion or misconduct by its employees,” the statement said, adding that a comprehensive investigation is currently underway to establish the facts and identify all individuals responsible.
