Venture capitalist faces second molestation case

MUMBAI: Police registered on Tuesday a second case of molestation against Mahesh Murthy, a prominent angel investor and co-founder of venture capital firm Seedfund, after a 41-yearold woman’s complaint that he kissed her without consent at a Bandra restaurant a decade ago.

The fresh charge follows Murthy’s arrest in February over a Delhi-based woman’s accusation that he harassed her with obscene language during calls through Whatsapp. He was granted bail later.

An officer at Bandra police station, where the new case was registered, said the complainant met Murthy at an advertising event in Mumbai in 2004.

“She was a young intern then and met the accused for the first time. After a few days, they met at a restaurant, where Murthy kissed her on her lips without her consent,” said the officer, who doesn’t want to be named.

He said the “woman didn’t know what to do … She was too young and didn’t meet him thereafter”, but the anger and pain bottled up inside her came out when she saw the first complaint of sexual harassment against Murthy.

“She approached the Bandra police station and explained what she went through more than a decade ago at a restaurant.”

The first charges against him were based on a letter from the National Commission for Women, which had attached the statement from the woman he had allegedly harassed over the phone in last December.

Hindustan Times tried to contact Murthy, a resident of Bandra (West), for his comments but he has not responded till this edition of the paper went to print on Tuesday night.