Mumbai Police register a case against Mahesh Murthy for sexual harassment

Full disclosure: Mahesh Murthy owns one per cent share in Newslaundry.

The Mumbai Police registered a first information report (FIR) against venture capitalist Mahesh Murthy for alleged sexual harassment on December 30, 2017. The development came to light when the National Commission of Women tweeted it out on Wednesday.

The case is based on a complaint filed by a New Delhi-based woman. According to The Hindu, Senior Police Inspector Ramchandra Jadhav said, “We registered the FIR based on an application we received from the National Commission for Women [NCW] on December 30. The accused, Mahesh Murthy, has been charged with stalking and outraging the modesty of women under the Indian Penal Code and other relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.”

The case was filed after the NCW’s intervention. The commission had received a complaint against Murthy after which it wrote to the Director General of Police (DGP), Maharashtra, to take action against “usage of objectionable, derogatory, sexual remarks and obscene signs on social media.” In its letter to the DG, the commission requested for  “personal involvement to investigate the matter and take strict action as per law and procedure against the accused as such acts not only amount to outraging the modesty of women but also attract action for cybercrime.”

Early last year, Factor Daily had reported on sexual misconduct charges against Murthy, which he had attempted to defend in a post on Medium.