Sex, lies and TCS | Nashik scandal

From the outside, the office of the Tata Consultancy Services BPO in Ashoka Business Enclave on Wadala Road looks like any other IT company office—young employees streaming in and out of the building, their bags piled up on a rack at the entrance at the beginning of the day and, at night, young women hurrying home on their scooties or in waiting autorickshaws. A short distance away is Wadalagaon, a congested locality with pockets of slums and old residential settlements with a sizeable Muslim population. Many of its youth, some armed with a bachelor’s degree in computer applications, find employment in Nashik’s IT firms. The companies, including TCS, in turn, prefer local youth so they can work night shifts without having to travel too far.

Yet no one had a whiff of the alleged scandal at the TCS BPO on the third floor, employing around 150 staffers, despite it being in the middle of a bustling commercial complex on a busy road, with Ashoka Hospital next door and housing several IT and BPO firms. Until, as a TCS employee reveals, a young woman sent a message to a social activist in Nashik late one March night, saying, “Dada, I need to meet you there is a problem.” He reached her apartment, a few kilometres away, not knowing what to expect. It was past 2.30 am, when the woman began narrating a harrowing tale of alleged verbal and sexual abuse at the workplace. Being married and not wanting her family to find out, she was unwilling to file an FIR. Another colleague, Vaishnavi (name changed), she said, did file a written complaint with the police but later withdrew it, fearing repercussions.

Sensing that something was amiss, Nashik police commissioner Sandeep Karnik swung into action, forming a team of women officers to infiltrate the organisation. They quietly mapped the routines and behaviour of the accused, studied CCTV footage, identified possible victims and gently counselled them to speak up and file formal complaints. Going by their accounts, an alleged web of deceit was playing out in the BPO, with sexual violence, blackmail, coercion and attempts at religious conversion. This seemed to have been going on for three years, it is alleged, with complaints either dismissed or ignored.

Nine FIRs, eight by women, one by a man, have been filed so far, though, according to the social activist, there may be up to 60 complaints. Six men—Danish Sheikh, 39; Tausif Attar, Raza Memon, Shahrukh Qureshi and Shafi Sheikh, all 35; Asif Ansari, 22—and two women—Ashwini Chainani, 51, assistant general manager, operations, and Nida Khan, 25, who TCS says was a “process associate”—have been charged under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita—including sexual harassment, stalking, hurting religious sentiments—as well as the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Seven of the accused have been arrested, while Nida is on the run (see The Accused).

The allegations and complaints from TCS’s Nashik unit have clearly shaken the Tata Group. In a press release, Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran described it as “gravely concerning and anguishing”, adding that “the incident is being treated with the utmost seriousness. The Tata Group maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of coercion or misconduct by its employees. A thorough investigation is under way to establish the facts and identify all individuals responsible for this situation”. The release went on to state that Aarthi Subramanian, COO at TCS, will lead this investigation. “Appropriate and stringent action will be taken against those found guilty. Any necessary process improvements or corrective measures will be promptly implemented and strictly enforced,” it stated further.

A ‘SORDID’ AFFAIR

For Vaishnavi, 20 years old at the time, it had seemed like a story straight out of a romance novel: a chance meeting with Danish, her college alumnus, at the crowded Levitt market in the cantonment town of Devlali, followed by frequent catch-ups at the popular hangout of Khandoba Tekdi, a job at the same company where he was a team leader, and then promise of marriage. This is what her FIR, registered on March 26 at Devlali Camp, states. At work, say her colleagues, Danish was an indulgent boss, allowing her privileges others were denied. If there were warning signs, she seems to have ignored them.

Or was perhaps forced to. According to her FIR, another team leader, Tausif, allegedly threatened to expose their relationship and sought sexual favours to stay silent. This pattern of abuse continued over the three years since she joined the company in 2023. The final blow came this February, when a woman—claiming to be Danish’s wife—called to tell her about their marriage and two children.

But Vaishnavi does not seem to be the only one. Another FIR, for instance, cites a pattern of workplace harassment since 2023. Raza, another senior staffer, allegedly repeatedly stared, followed and attempted to touch the complainant, alongside making sexually suggestive remarks about her marriage. She has also accused another colleague, Shahrukh, of making inappropriate advances on the occasion of Gudi Padwa on March 19. A third woman, in her FIR, has accused these two of commenting on her physique and asking intrusive questions about her relationships, along with a suggestive remark implying she could be “prepared” for one of them.

The FIRs speak of religious persecution too. Vaishnavi, in her complaint, recounts how Danish and Tausif would allegedly mock her religious beliefs and repeatedly invoke the benefits of converting to Islam, and how Nida tried to convince her that the “Shivling is actually a representation of the male organ and that worshipping it is obscene”. Another FIR was filed by a male employee, Krishna, in which he alleges that Tausif, along with Danish, Raza and Shahrukh, “forcibly made me wear their religious cap and recite namaaz. They would also take me along to hotels for meals and force me to eat non-vegetarian food. When I refused, they would insult me and make derogatory comments about my religion”.

“The accused were in important positions,” says Karnik, “so they misused their authority and position to sexually and religiously harass co-workers.” A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed. The National Investigation Agency and the Anti-Terrorism Squad, too, have joined the probe, and are investigating the alleged probability of a larger conversion syndicate, cross-border links with a radical preacher, and suspicious financial transactions. “We are investigating whether this happened through a local religious network, social media, or other channels involved in radicalisation,” says an officer, on the condition of anonymity.

PATTERNS OF CONTROL

The modus operandi, according to investigators, followed a clear, consistent pattern. It began with grooming: an offer of trust, romance or protection. The accused would break the ice with young women colleagues by appearing to be helpful and attentive. Allegations are that they would even sabotage their scooties—disconnect wires, for instance—and then “fix” the problem or offer a ride home. If a woman did not report to work, they would allegedly call her home out of alleged concern, helping build rapport with families. Nida, too, is alleged to have befriended the young female employees, and was said to be the link between them and the senior colleagues. “Many of these women were young, around 20, and responded to what seemed like care and protection,” says a former employee.

Once emotional dependence set in, coercion followed, say the investigators. It allegedly took the shape of rewards and punishments. Women who complied with their demands were granted informal privileges such as lenient office timings. Those who resisted allegedly faced subtle penalties, like being marked late even for minor delays or, as one FIR mentions, having excessive customer calls routed to them.

Outside the office, the city of Nashik, with its cool climate, surrounding hills and secluded stretches, apparently became an unwitting backdrop. Danish, states Vaishnavi’s FIR, took her to places such as Khandoba Tekdi, resorts along Trimbakeshwar Road and the quiet, tree-lined stretches of Devlali Camp, where their ‘romance’ blossomed. Social interactions like movie outings, impromptu weekend plans and biryani lunches were said to be common among the staffers. Police are also examining claims that food or drinks may have been laced with substances.

Inside the office, team leaders were allegedly given wide freedom in dealing with their teams. Employees allege that the pattern of favouritism was difficult to miss. “Official working hours were nine, but some would log in and leave within three hours,” says a former employee. “They would offer namaaz in office multiple times a day and even pressure others to follow.” Complaints raised by a unit manager—via emails and performance appraisals—were allegedly dismissed. “Whenever he gave them poor ratings, he was instructed to award them the highest scores, so he had to change them from D to A,” adds the former employee.

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS?

How did this alleged conspiracy continue for three long years? There was apparently no way to document the alleged harassment—bags and mobile phones were mandated to be left outside. Warnings and complaints, several employees allege, were repeatedly ignored. Under fire is Ashwini, the operations AGM, who was with the organisation for over two decades and was part of the POSH (prevention of sexual harassment) committee that operated from Pune. (The Nashik unit did not have a POSH committee of its own.) She is alleged to have ignored verbal complaints routed through the unit manager. According to one of the FIRs filed by an employee, Ashwini dismissed her complaint against Raza, saying, “Why do you want to highlight this? Let it go.”

With many of the affected employees coming from financially weak backgrounds, they apparently had no option but to endure the ordeal. Fear of social stigma and family disapproval further drove them into silence. Speaking about one’s harassment, Mumbai-based psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty points out, is rarely a simple choice. “What we see is a combination of helplessness and fear—fear that no one will believe them, fear of losing their job and fear of social consequences. I have patients come and tell me, ‘If this comes out, my family will worry about my future, who will marry me?’ That sense of shame and social stigma can be very powerful in India.”

ALTERNATIVE NARRATIVES

What is equally surprising is that no one outside noticed anything amiss at the BPO. Employees of other firms would see TCS staff hang out in groups, sitting at long tables in the dining hall on the terrace. “There would be groups of men and young women, but they seemed friendly with each other. Nothing indicated such things could be going on,” says a woman who works in the same building.

Meanwhile, the families of the accused as well as the defence lawyers deny the charges. Riyaz Memon, Raza’s uncle, questions why only Muslim men were arrested and not other seniors from the Nashik office. “They are being unnecessarily targeted,” he alleges. Advocate Baba Sayyad, defence lawyer for five of the accused, including Raza and Tausif, says the case has been heavily politicised, describing it as “a love story gone sour”. Asked about claims that the accused had links to a preacher in Malaysia—an allegation under police investigation—he says: “No such allegations have been made in the FIR. The media is going by hearsay There is no evidence or basis for this.” The FIR and remand report, he says, were likewise silent on allegations of forced conversions; according to him, the accused merely engaged in “friendly discussions” on religion and did not denigrate any faith. However, police sources confirm that allegations of religious harassment have been made in some of these FIRs.

Others suspect a political angle to the whole controversy, saying it is meant to deflect attention away from recent controversies, such as the felling of trees for the Kumbh Mela in Nashik, and the alleged exploitation of women by the self-styled godman Ashok Kharat. These sources also dismissed media reports that the police posed as housekeeping staff to gather evidence, pointing out that TCS hired such staff through agencies and also had an access control mechanism that regulated entry.

A harsher line is that TCS was caught napping in the whole episode. In defence, TCS CEO and MD K. Krithivasan in a statement said, “A preliminary review of the systems and records pertaining to the Nashik unit indicates we have not received any complaints of the nature being alleged on our ethics or POSH channels. We remain fully committed to the safety, dignity and well-being of every employee.” He also dismissed media reports about the Nashik unit being shut down, calling them “absolutely untrue”. The company, he said, is “focused on supporting our employees and ensuring a safe and respectful workplace across all our locations” and continues to “extend full cooperation to the law enforcement agencies so that the matter is investigated thoroughly, transparently and brought to a rightful conclusion”. Expect these competing narratives to be put to test as the probe gathers pace.

—with Dhaval S. Kulkarni and Sonali Acharjee