NASHIK: A court here on Monday granted bail to TCS employee Nida Khan in one of the alleged sexual harassment and religious conversion cases at the IT firm's unit in north Maharashtra's Nashik city, two months after her arrest, but denied a similar relief to co-accused Danish Shaikh.
Additional Sessions Judge (Nashik Road court) K G Joshi, in his order, noted that accusations against Shaikh's appears to be "grave in nature".
"Considering the nature of punishment, possibility of tampering (with) evidence, fleeing away from justice, threatening the witnesses, (and) emotionally black-mailing (them), can not be ruled out," the Judge observed while rejecting his bail plea.
However, a reasoned court order on Khan's bail was not available yet. A third accused in the case, Tausif Akhtar -- who was also granted bail.
After being on the run for days, Khan was arrested on May 7 from a rented flat in the Naregaon area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in central Maharashtra following a joint operation by law enforcement agencies.
She had been absconding for nearly 25 days after the case came to light based on complaints from junior female staffers at the IT firm's unit in Nashik.
Khan, represented by advocate Rahul Kasliwal, sought bail primarily on the ground that she was pregnant.
Public prosecutor Vijay Gaikwad, along with lawyers Milind Kurkute and Nitin Pandit, appearing on behalf of one of the victims, opposed the bail pleas of Khan and Shaikh.
Their contention was that enough evidence of sexual assault and religious coercion came to the fore during the investigation of the case.
The prosecution submitted that Shaikh gave an Islamic book and burqa to the woman victim with the motive for religious conversion.
All these suggest the victim was sexually exploited intentionally and efforts for her religious conversion were made, they argued.
The specific case pertains to the FIR registered by the Deolali Camp police station under the BNS provisions 69 (sexual intercourse by employing deceitful means etc), 65 (sexual harassment), 299 (outrage religious feelings). They have also been booked under relevant provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act as the victim was a Dalit.
As per the FIR, between July 2022 and February 2026, Shaikh, Akhtar -- who was also granted bail on Monday - and Khan hurt the complainant's religious sentiments by making offensive remarks about Hindu deities.
Shaikh gained the complainant's trust by lying to her and promising marriage, subsequently engaging in sexual relations, while Akhtar is accused of touching her inappropriately in the office lobby and pantry.
Additionally, the accused, Shaikh, Akhtar, and Khan, insulted the complainant by using casteist language, the FIR alleged.
As per the complaint, the accused, including Khan, allegedly coerced the victim into religious conversion through threats and by hurting her religious sentiments. The accused further conspired to change the victim's name, with Shaikh taking her documents for this purpose.
Shaikh and Akhtar allegedly planned to send the victim to a person identified only as Imran in Malaysia.
An SIT of the Nashik police is probing a total of nine cases registered in connection with the alleged exploitation, attempt of forceful conversion, hurting religious sentiments, molestation and mental harassment of female employees at the TCS unit.
After the cases came to light, TCS clarified that it has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards harassment and coercion of any form for a long time, and the employees allegedly involved in sexual harassment at the Nashik office have been suspended.