A month after angel investor Mahesh Murthy was granted bail in a sexual harassment case, an author has lodged a complaint with the Mumbai police alleging that Murthy had sexually harassed her 14 years ago.
According to a report on the Economic Times, the Mumbai police has registered an FIR against Murthy under IPC sections 354 and 509 for outraging the modesty of a woman and an act intended to insult her modesty.
A senior police official said the complaint is over alleged advances Murthy made during a 2004 business meeting in a cafe in the western suburb. In her complaint, the author alleged she was introduced to Murthy in 2000 during a business meeting. She told police that since he was a marketing expert, she discussed difficulties in securing advertisements. In January 2004, she met Murthy at a coffee shop where he allegedly spoke “about his open marriage” and leaned and touched her inappropriately.
Murthy’s previous case
In February, Murthy was arrested in Mumbai in connection with a sexual harassment case but was released soon on an anticipatory bail.
In a tweet, Murthy had said, “it was a procedural technical arrest” and that he has been released on “surety”. A report in the Hindustan Times which quotes a senior police inspector of Khar police station confirmed the same.
Murthy was booked on December 29 under Section 354 (D), 509 of IPC and under Section 67 of IT Act at Khar Police Station in Mumbai. Section 354 deals with stalking and Section 509 deals with outraging the modesty of a woman. Section 67 of the IT Act deals with transmitting obscene material in electronic form. The case had been registered following 32-year-old woman’s complaint and the intervention of the National Commission of Women (NCW).
Multiple allegations of sexual misconduct
Back in February 2017, in a post on Medium titled “The confessions of a serial offender”, Murthy attempted to justify and apologize for his behaviour. The comments section showed mixed reactions from readers.
While in April, FactorDaily put out a detailed report mentioning multiple women who had accused the venture capitalist of sexual misconduct. The allegations dated back to 2003.
Murthy’s founding partners at venture capital fund Seedfund had told FactorDaily they do not endorse or condone the alleged behaviour and added that there were at least two instances when the fund’s LPs (limited partners) asked about allegations against Murthy.
Specific instances mentioned in the report included a government official who shared screenshots from a WhatsApp conversation with Murthy, about a Mumbai woman who was 19 when she was allegedly harassed and an American citizen who was residing in Mumbai.
