NRI Woman Files Sexual Assault Case Against Boss

By Little India Desk | August 11, 2017

A 38-year-old NRI woman has filed a case of stalking, extortion and sexual assault against her former boss. According to the woman, not only did he assault her in India, but he also followed her to Australia when she moved to the country with her husband and children, and continued the harassment there as well.

A case has been booked against the accused under relevant sections of the IPC for causing hurt, rape, cheating, voyeurism and criminal intimidation, according to Mail Today. The report did not name the accused.

Continuous Harassment

The woman met the accused in her office. They were in the same department, though he was based in Hyderabad. The nature of her job demanded that the complainant had to communicate with him often, and that he would often travel to Gurugram for work.

“He used to tell me about his cruel and selfish wife who had eloped with her cousin and how he was raising a daughter with special needs all alone without any support from the family. He told me that he needed a friend in such difficult times for stories and he was calling the frequently to discuss work and personal problems,” she told the police. In March 2013, knowing that she would be all alone at her house in Gurugram, she claims he called her and said he was coming over in the evening.

According to the FIR she filed, she poured them a glass of cold drink. She went inside the kitchen for a couple of minutes after pouring out the drinks. She adds in the FIR that after finishing the drinks, she fell unconscious and woke up to find herself lying nude in her bedroom. The accused, who was sitting on the chair, threatened her to keep mum about the assault, using her job and reputation as blackmail tactics.

The FIR reveals: “He threatened to leak my objectionable photos, the video of the incident and asked me to please him in all ways and keep him happy. I was forced to accompany him to several high-end hotels and various cities across the country. When I pleaded him to let me go, he began blackmailing me by threatening to reveal the incident to my husband and therefore I was forced to bear the pain of mental and sexual abuse. He sought 20 lakh as a lump sum amount to end the assault. I even agreed to that. However, a few days later I was again subjected to the assault.”

Harassment in Australia

Even after she moved to Australia with her family, the accused continued harassing her. He messaged to her husband, maligning her character and sent them emails. “His emails gave me feelers that he was still following me. I thought of complaining to the police just before moving to Australia but I did not do it to avoid being placed in an uncomfortable situation,” the woman recounted in the FIR.

He then stalked her on the streets of Melbourne.

Sexual Harassment at Workplace

A survey conducted of 6,047 people by National Bar Association in India reveals that 38 per cent of women had faced sexual harassment at their workplace, and 68.09 of them had refrained from lodging a complaint due to fear and embarrassment. According to about 65.2 per cent of the respondents, their company did not follow the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2013. A FICCI study from 2015 states that 35 per cent of Indian companies and 25 per cent of multinational companies do not comply with the Sexual Harassment Act 2013.