Mahesh Murthy (Murthy’s twitter account)
The Mumbai Police registered a second case of sexual harassment against angel investor Mahesh Murthy. In February, Murthy was arrested for allegedly sexually harassing a 32-year-old woman from Delhi. The incident came to light after the first complainant shared screenshots of her chat with Murthy on the internet, following which a few other women also shared details of their alleged encounters with him. The second case was registered last week after a 41-year-old woman approached Mumbai’s Khar police. The case was later transferred to the Bandra police station.
When contacted, Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone IX) Paramjit Singh Dahiya confirmed that a second FIR has been filed but refused to comment further. Responding to a query via email, Murthy said, “This is age-old news, re-hashed and still complete nonsense.
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 High Court granted a stay in my favour. This is her counter attack. Once again, these are completely false allegations and I will fight these ridiculous claims.”
According to the second FIR, the alleged incident took place in 2004 when Murthy allegedly touched the complainant inappropriately inside a coffee shop in Bandra. The complainant has said in her statement that she met Murthy at an advertising event, following which the two exchanged numbers.
An officer from the Bandra police station said, “The complainant was working as an intern with an advertising firm. She claims she was overwhelmed on meeting Murthy. Later, Murthy called her to a restaurant in Bandra and suddenly kissed her. She was shocked, so she left the place and never got in touch with Murthy again, she said.”
The police said the complainant decided to come forward and register a case against Murthy after she read about the first FIR.