Mumbai:

The MIDC police have relied on screenshots of five WhatsApp messages to build a case against The Viral Fever (TVF) CEO Arunabh Kumar following complaints of sexual harassment against him.Awoman, who was employed as a writer-director with digital entertainment startup TVF , had texted the messages to a colleague.

Police filed a 275-page chargesheet against Kumar in Andheri metropolitan magistrate court last week, which also includes statements of 14 people who were at the TVF office on the day of the alleged incident.

Meanwhile, Kumar has claimed in his police statement that his act was not intentional.

Apart from the WhatsApp evidence and statements of witnesses, police did a panchnama of the spot and took pictures of the TVF office. “The main evidence in the case are the WhatsApp messages that the complainant, a TVF employee, had sent her colleague immediately after the CEO reportedly misbehaved with her during a shoot at his Andheri office. A detailed report has been attached with the chargesheet, which sa ys how during the shoot Kumar stripped in front of her, used indecent language and touched the tattoo on her neck.“

The victim had put up a Facebook post on March 13 accusing Kumar of harassment.

MIDC police senior inspector Shailesh Pasalwar confirmed that the chargesheet was filed on May 9 after Kumar’s arrest on April 22 and release on an interim bail the same day .

The chargesheet also contains the second FIR against Kumar registered by a 24-yearold former employee on March 30, a day after the first complaint. In her police statement, she said he allegedly misbehaved with her. “When I told him I will complain to the police, he said `police meri pocket me hai’. I walked out deciding never to return. Then I got a call from the legal department claiming breach of contract. My mother told me not to fight them. Kumar called my father and said that I was making up stories,“ she said.

 http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/index.aspx?eid=31804&dt=20170518