Maharashtra Legislative Council Deputy Chairperson Neelam Gorhe has sought stringent action against employees of a leading IT firm facing allegations of sexual harassment and forced religious conversion at its Nashik facility.
In a statement issued on Monday, Gorhe said she had directed the Nashik Police Commissioner to take strict action in the case.
Eight women employees of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) have accused their senior colleagues at the company’s Nashik campus of sexual harassment and coercion related to religious conversion.
Following the complaints, the police last week constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter.
The complainants have alleged that the company’s human resources department failed to respond to their grievances.
Police have since arrested seven executives of the company, including a woman HR manager accused of neglecting complaints raised by the victims.
Gorhe said the incident has triggered social tensions and raised concerns about women’s safety at the workplace. She termed the allegations of religious conversion and sexual harassment as a matter of grave concern and called for an impartial, transparent and thorough investigation.
She also urged the SIT to examine CCTV footage from the company premises, phone communications and financial transactions as part of its probe, and sought that the accused be tried in a fast-track court.
Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran on Monday described the allegations as “gravely concerning and anguishing”, and announced that an internal inquiry would be conducted under a senior executive.
He said the group follows a “zero-tolerance policy” towards any form of coercion or misconduct by its employees.
“Appropriate and stringent action will be taken against those found guilty in the investigation,” he said, adding that process improvements or other corrective measures would be promptly implemented and strictly enforced.
(With inputs from PTI)