Former Employee Accuses ScoopWhoop Co-founder of Sexual Harassment: Reports

ScoopWhoop co-founder Suparn Pandey has been reportedly accused of sexual harassment and sexual assault, Catch News reports. An FIR has been lodged following this. A former senior executive of ScoopWhoop Media Pvt. Ltd., made a slew of allegations on other co-founders of ScoopWhoop – Sattvik Mishra and Sriparna Tikekar too, alleging that they encouraged the misbehaviour despite knowing the facts. The harassment reportedly took place almost two years ago as per Catch News.

She stated that the harassment lasted for her tenure at the company. She has also accused them of harassing her initially with verbal assault from Pandey, in the form of “inappropriate comments and lewd remarks”

The FIR has been registered at the Vasant Kunj (South) Police Station, Delhi. It applies the charges of section 354 A (sexual harassment), section 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman), and section 506 (criminal intimidation).

Also Read: Six Sexual Harassment Laws In India Every Woman must know

The complainant was an employee of ScoopWhoop during 2015 and 2017. In her FIR, she reportedly mentions the misdeeds she had to face during her working days. She stated that the harassment lasted for her tenure at the company. She has also accused them of harassing her initially with verbal assault from Pandey, in the form of “inappropriate comments and lewd remarks”. The FIR then reportedly details physical assault.

The FIR states as per Catch News, “Mr. Suparn Pandey in public commented on my sexuality and this comment included calling me a names (sic.) which reflected on my sexual orientation and my sexual preferences."

The former employee also claimed that post those traumatic incidents, she went to Sriparna Tikekar to complain about the issue but no action was taken against Pandey.

The complainant described the entire situation in the FIR, adding that Pandey would go uncomfortably close to her for no apparent reason, and would often try to play with her hair. Pandey is even accused of sending her a lewd video on the company's official Gmail chat.

The former employee also claimed that post those traumatic incidents, she went to Sriparna Tikekar to complain about the issue but no action was taken against Pandey.

READ: Get schooled on sexual harassment laws in India from lawyer Karuna Nundy

"Mr Pandey got so bold as to send me a lewd video over the official Gmail chat, in which the words were “aapnu jeans dheeli karo", reads the FIR.

"Mr. Pandey approached me after the meeting, between 8-9:30PM, when I was alone at my work desk and asked me to be less “aggressive” in my dealings with other people and learn to “pour some sugar on it.” That after that, he then got up, kissed my forehead and walked away, the complainant recounts in the FIR.

When she was going through the ordeal, according to the complaint filed, Mishra and Tikekar, turned against her, publicly humiliated her and told her that she “had no authority in this situation”.

ScoopWhoop strongly condemns any kind of harassment at the workplace. We work towards ensuring a safe and secure workplace for all our employees and take any complaints of harassment extremely seriously.

We are fully prepared to accept the findings of the investigations and dutifully take the necessary action if found guilty.

Also Read:Law And Her: Understanding sexual harassment rights at workplaces

Arunabh Kumar (Pic by DNA)

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