Red Cross secretary denied anticipatory bail in molestation case

Additional sessions judge Sashi Chauhan rejected the anticipatory bail on Friday as a serious allegation had been levelled against the accused and directed him to join the investigation

A local court on Friday rejected the anticipatory bail application of the secretary of Red Cross Society who was booked for allegedly molesting a 35-year-old woman staffer of the organisation last week.

The woman alleged that the man got her a job and then started harassing her. (HT Archive)

Additional sessions judge Sashi Chauhan rejected the anticipatory bail on Friday as a serious allegation had been levelled against him. “He was directed to join the investigation,” said public prosecutor Jagbir Singh Sehrawat.

The woman, in her complaint filed last week, alleged that she had met the secretary at an event organised by an NGO in Sohna on March 3 this year, when he shared his mobile phone number with her and told her to get in touch with him for a job. The woman is a law graduate.

The following day, the woman allegedly met him at the Red Cross office in Gurugram and was offered the job of a counsellor within two days, following which he sexually harassed her, according to the complaint.

The woman said that she confronted the accused, Shyam Sunder, along with the chairperson of another NGO, during which he claimed that the messages were sent by his servant.

Refuting the allegations, Sundar on Friday said that he was transferred to Panchkula but was ready to join the investigation.

He said that he was being framed and that the woman was trying to extort him. “The woman had approached me for a job. I helped her to get the job but she started threatening to frame me in a false rape case. She had demanded ₹20 lakh. The police can match the locations; I was not there at the location when she alleged (the incident took place),” he said.

The woman had approached the deputy commissioner with her complaint and also submitted her resignation to the organisation. Based on her complaint, an FIR was filed against the suspect under IPC sections 34 (common intention), 354 (assault with intent to outrage a woman’s modesty) 354-D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) at the women’s police station (west) on August 12.

Usha Kundu, the assistant commissioner of police, said that Sundar has been asked to join the investigation. “Arrest will be made after investigation,” he said.