Victim cries foul as cops say no evidence against IIM director
Cops say they have not been able to authenticate the victim’s claims despite questioning several people and checking the CCTV footage
month after registering an FIR against IIM Rohtak director for allegedly sexually harassing a former assistant professor, the Rohtak police on Monday said they could not find any truth in the charges so far in their investigation.
“We have not been able to authenticate the victim’s claims despite questioning several people and checking the CCTV footage,” said DSP Ramesh Kumar, who is leading the investigations in the case.
“We have visited the workplace as well as the residence of the complainant and talked to her colleagues, neighbours and watchman during our investigation, but nobody has substantiated her claims,” the DSP said.
“The director has joined the investigation. We have also contacted the complainant. But she has changed her statements regarding the place of the occurrence of alleged sexual harassment,” he added.
The complainant woman, however, has refuted police version, maintaining she has not changed her statement at all. Speaking to HT, she said, “There has been no change in statement. I have even submitted documentary as well as audio evidence to the police, but my evidence are being overlooked.” “The police have not even bothered to check the CCTV footage of the date of the incident which I specifically mentioned. I want to keep my faith in police investigation but I’m ready to approach the courts with my evidence because state machinery can be manipulated by those in power,” she said.
The 34-year-old woman had accused IIM director Dheeraj Sharma of molesting her and seeking sexual favours from her on several occasions. She said since she complained against the director to the board of governors and the Ministry of Human Resources and Development, he abruptly terminated her services to suppress her voice.
The IIM director on the other hand maintained that the complainant filed sexual harassment complaint after they terminated her services due to poor performance and bad conduct. “The complaint against the director is an afterthought post the termination,” the institute head had said.