Mumbai: The Kherwadi police on Friday arrested the human resources manager of Dirt Busters India Pvt Ltd, Sushant Mankar (24), for allegedly demanding sexual favours from a 23-year-old woman. The woman alleged that the manager delayed the release of her late father’s provident fund (PF) and demanded sexual favours from her by sending obscene messages to her on her mobile phone.
Rajendra Mulik, Senior Police Inspector, Kherwadi Police, said, "We have detained the accused and are scrutinising his mobile phone. Following the investigation, appropriate legal action will be taken. The accused has no prior criminal record and resides in Chembur."
A 23-year-old woman filed a case against Sushant Mankar under IPC section 509 (b) (about words intended to insult the modesty of a woman) along with section 67 (a) (regarding the material published or transmitted in electronic form that contains sexually explicit content) of the Information Technology Act at the Kherwadi police station on March 20.
According to the FIR, the victim resides in Siddharth Nagar, Bandra East, with her 75-year-old grandmother and 19-year-old brother. She works as a house help, and her parents were divorced when she was four years old. Her father took on the responsibility for her upbringing and nominated her as the beneficiary of his PF account.
Her father was employed at Dirt Busters India Pvt Ltd from 2009 to 2015 and passed away in 2015 when she was 15 years old. In 2018, she visited the Provident Fund office located in Bandra East, where she was informed that her father's PF file had been forwarded to Sushant Mankar, HR Manager at Dirt Busters India Pvt Ltd, for approval. The PF office was assured that the funds would be deposited into her account within 45 days.
However, despite 90 days passing without any progress, she reached out to Mankar via mobile phone in 2019 to inquire about the PF. Since she had been in contact with Mankar via mobile phone, she alleges in her complaint that Mankar sent her messages via WhatsApp, stating that he would assist her in receiving her father's PF amount but demanded a physical relationship in return. He sent her obscene messages, which she chose to ignore. Distressed by this, she ultimately decided to file a case against Mankar and approached the Kherwadi police.
"DIRT BUSTERS INDIA PVT. LTD is a facility management company incorporated in 2003 having multinational companies as their clients. The Company has more than 650 employees on its payroll who are deployed at client sites all over the MMR region. The Company has a robust employee policy which does not tolerate any kind of discrimination, sexual misconduct and harassment to women."
"The concerned person Sushant Malankar, is deployed at our corporate office as a HR executive assistant of the Company and not as Manager, as is mentioned. He is only handling the profile of maintaining the statutory components of employee salaries."
"We have taken note of the police complaint and as the matter is sub-judice, we will await the conclusion of the investigation to which we have assured our complete support. In the meantime, the Company has decided that his services be immediately suspended until further notice."
"We will not be responsible for any actions of Sushant Mankar and anyone dealing with him in whatsoever manner will do so at their own risk and the Company will not be liable whatsoever", said Director, Dirt Busters India Pvt. Ltd.
