Angel investor Mahesh Murthy was arrested and released on bail after a Delhi woman filed a sexual harassment complaint against him.
Mumbai: A day after angel investor Mahesh Murthy’s brief arrest for alleged sexual harassment of a Delhi woman, the Mumbai police plan to reach out to other women who are said to have similar complaints against the Seedfund co-founder, to record their statements.
The Khar police in Mumbai arrested 52-year-old Murthy Friday based on the complaint of a woman from Delhi.
Police said they recorded the statement of the complainant. She also shared screenshots of WhatsApp conversations in which Murthy allegedly made objectionable and derogatory remarks with sexual overtones. Murthy had obtained anticipatory bail in the case and was released the same evening.
“As of now, we have just one complaint and one FIR. We will now get in touch with the four other women who also seem to have similar complaints against the accused,” Ramchandra Jadhav, senior inspector at the Khar police station, said.
“We will conduct our investigation and file a chargesheet,” he added.
The Delhi-based entrepreneur had submitted a written complaint to the National Commission for Women (NCW) last year, following which a few other women including a journalist, a government official and an HR professional, are reported to have written to the NCW saying they had suffered similar harassment in their interactions with Murthy.
The NCW sent the complaints to the Maharashtra Director General of Police in November last year. The complaint was then forwarded to the Khar police, which registered an FIR on 29 December after a preliminary probe.
Murthy was booked under IPC sections dealing with stalking, sexual harassment and publishing or transmitting obscene material.
Saying he will fight the allegations and defend his reputation, Murthy Friday tweeted, “The honourable court granted me anticipatory bail in this case some time ago. I am told it was a procedural technical arrest and I have already been released on surety.”
“This is the same issue on which I had filed a case and where the High Court has already passed an interim order in my favour and against the complainant back in April 2017,” he said.
“This is an attempt to counter-sue. I will fight this too in court to defend my reputation,” he added.