Police book 8 of IT firm after woman alleges sex abuse

Police on Friday registered an FIR against the directors, co-founders, coordinators and the head of human resource (HR) of an IT firm in Whitefield after a woman employee filed a sexual harassment complaint.

The 32-year-old woman, who has worked for companies like Wipro, Bosch, Harman International, GENPACT, among others, had joined the firm recently.

According to the FIR, only a few days after she joined the firm, two coordinators working with the firm who had come from Singapore offered her to join their Singapore office.

This, however, happened without a formal introduction of either party.

When she refused the offer, the eight senior members holding key posts of the firm started harassing her in the office. She was even targeted in office parties if she refused to drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes.

She alleged that she was made to work day and night, much beyond her working hours. As a result of the inhumane workload, she fell sick and was admitted to the hospital, where doctors advised her to take rest.

But when she asked for leave, the HR personnel refused to sanction it and told her to resign instead. Later, the company terminated her employment without any intimation.

The eight accused also blocked the entire chain of e-mails which she had written to the senior representatives of the firm, detailing the harassment.

A senior police officer said that they had issued notices to all the eight persons named in the FIR, asking them to appear before the officer in charge of investigation and give their statement.