Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Police have arrested AIMIM councillor Matin Patel from Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar for sheltering Nida Khan, one of the accused in the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) sexual harassment and forced religious conversion case.
Patel was arrested by the Nashik Police after he failed to appear before a court, following which a warrant was issued against him.
Authorities had earlier demolished Patel’s residence and office, alleging that he had provided shelter to Nida Khan. Khan, who is pregnant, was granted bail in July.
advertisement
On July 6, an additional sessions court granted bail to Khan, who was five months pregnant at the time, considering the welfare of her unborn child. While granting bail, the judge observed that no child should bear the burden or social stigma of being born in captivity, citing Lord Krishna’s birth in prison.
The TCS conversion case dates back to March 2026, when allegations of sexual harassment and attempts at forced religious conversion surfaced at a TCS-linked BPO unit in Nashik. Several people, including a junior level employee at the BPO Nida Khan, were arrested in connection with the case.
Last week, an additional sessions court in Nashik granted bail to five other accused after noting that the chargesheet had already been filed and the investigation was substantially complete.
Additional Sessions Judge Amit Vinayak Kharkar, in an order dated July 30, granted bail to Raza Rafiq Memon, Asif Aftab Ansari, Shah Rukh Hussain Shaukat Qureshi, Shafi Bhikan Shaikh and Tausif Bilal Attar in multiple FIRs registered at Mumbai Naka Police Station in Nashik.
The court also observed that there was no serious apprehension that the accused would threaten witnesses or tamper with evidence if released.
Among the allegations, TCS employee Raza Rafiq Memon is accused of making sexually coloured remarks, inappropriately touching the complainant, demanding sexual relations and insulting her religion while claiming his own faith was superior. Police alleged that the other accused supported his conduct.
The defence, however, argued that even if the alleged remarks were accepted as true, they amounted to “light-hearted office banter.”
After hearing both sides, the court noted that the accused had spent more than three months in custody before granting them bail.
An SIT is currently investigating nine cases related to the alleged exploitation of women employees, attempts at forced religious conversion, outraging religious sentiments, molestation and mental harassment at the TCS Nashik unit. TCS has suspended the employees allegedly involved in the sexual harassment case.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
