TCS, India’s biggest private-sector employer, has clarified that it has a zero-tolerance policy towards harassment and coercion of any form, and the employees allegedly involved in sexual harassment at the Nashik office have been suspended.
She joined the Nashik unit of IT giant Tata Consultancy Services, or TCS, as an associate. Newly married, she claims she had to face taunts like “player”, “zero figure”, comments about Hindu gods and other obscene gestures by her fellow colleagues.
She is among more than half a dozen women who have levelled allegations of sexual harassment and forced religious conversion against her male colleagues.
A Special Investigation Team of Nashik police has arrested eight persons, including a woman operations manager, by registering nine FIRs in the case.
TCS, India’s biggest private-sector employer, has clarified that it has a zero-tolerance policy towards harassment and coercion of any form, and the employees allegedly involved in sexual harassment at the Nashik office have been suspended.
On Friday, the company said that a preliminary review of the records indicated that it had not received any complaints “of the nature that are being alleged on either our ethics or POSH (prevention of sexual harassment) channels”.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the matter is a cause for serious concern as it indicates at “corporate jihad”.
The victim told the police that she lives with her in-laws in Nashik as her husband works in Pune.
“Since June 20, 2025, following my marriage I have been working at the TCS Nashik branch as an ‘Associate’. My three-month training began on June 24, 2025. My training leaders were Shahrukh Qureshi and Jayesh Gunjal,” she told the cops.
During the training, she claimed, a certain Raza Menon, the Team Lead of the Loans Branch, who had nothing to do with the training-would repeatedly come up to her in the training room and ask about her personal life.
“Since your husband lives away, how do you manage everything? Don’t you get scared? If you ever need anything at all, please let me know, I’ll be there to help you anytime,” the victim told the police.
She said it had only been a month since her marriage but that never stopped Raza from commenting on her married life.
“You’ve just gotten married – where did you go for your honeymoon? What did you do there?” she told the cops quoting Raza.
She said whenever Raza made those remarks, her Team Leader Shahrukh Qureshi would egg him on.
The woman said Shahrukh would often ask her about the nature of her married life.
“Is yours an ‘arranged marriage’ or a ‘love marriage’?” she said Shah Rukh would ask her.
Raza too would join in, harassing her, she claimed.
“If you don’t get along with your husband, let us know; we’ll teach you exactly what to do and how to go about it. You must have had plenty of boyfriends. How did you end up getting married after leaving them all behind? If those boyfriends are still pursuing you in the same way they used to, and your family or husband were to find out about it, what would happen? What would you do?” Raza told her, she claimed.
The woman claimed that it was Raza who had named her “player”.
“Raza had nicknamed me ‘Player.’ Whenever I came to the office, he would address me exclusively as ‘Player.’ If I encountered any difficulties with my work and mentioned them to Shahrukh, he would summon Raza. Raza would then come over and say, ‘What’s up, Player? Can’t handle the work? If you’re struggling, just let me know,'” the woman told the police.
“Why doesn’t your husband ever come here? You’re newlyweds. How can he bear to live apart from you? If I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t go anywhere without you; I would stay right by your side,” she said, detailing her harassment.
On the day of Gudi Padwa in March this year, the woman complained that it was Raza who pulled at her saree.
“I had come wearing a saree. As I was walking through the lobby, right across the pantry, I felt someone tug at my pallu (the loose end of the saree). When I turned around, I saw that my pallu was in Raza’s hand. I immediately yanked my pallu back, whereupon he looked at me with a lewd gaze and smiled,” she claimed.
Internal professional rivalry and office politics are the motive for the “false” sexual harassment and conversion allegations levelled against TCS employee Raza Memon, his family said on Sunday, describing him as a “high performer”.
Speaking to news agency PTI, Memon’s uncle Ayaz Kazi said the case was part of a coordinated “conspiracy” spurred by Memon’s academic and professional performance.
Memon, who is among the eight people arrested in the case, is in police custody.
Memon’s family members also made claims of communal discrimination in the case against him. Kazi claimed that the people above Memon in the hierarchy were from different faiths, yet no action had been taken against them.
TCS, Asia’s biggest IT outsourcer, has announced an oversight panel and engagement of external entities in its internal probe, it said.
After the completion of her training, the woman began her regular duties. At that time her team had 27 people and Atul Pandey was her Team Lead.
“During this period, Asif Ansari, an employee from another team, would repeatedly come and sit right next to me, despite there being no vacant seats, and attempt to get physically close. He would deliberately touch my body, grab my hand, and occasionally place his hand on my thigh or shoulder, causing me to feel deeply embarrassed,” she said, detailing her horror to the police.
“Once, he came close to me, touched my stomach and waist, and remarked, “You have a ‘zero figure’. On another occasion, while I was standing in the gallery, Asif approached me and suddenly grabbed me in a tight embrace. I shoved him away forcefully and fled the spot,” she claimed.
She alleged that Asif habitually “made extremely vulgar and obscene remarks” against her.
“Do you like me? I really like you,” she said he would pester her with such remarks.
“I would walk away in anger without giving any reply. Since I was new to the job, and out of fear of losing it, I didn’t tell anyone about this, nor did I file any complaint,” she said.
He would, she claimed, disturb her even during lunch hours, finding any pretext to sit next to her and touch her inappropriately.
“He would come and sit right beside me, and place his hand on my thigh. He would say, ‘Just as you cook for your husband, you should cook and bring food for me as well. You certainly had boyfriends before you got married, so what’s the harm in having one more? Even though you are married now, that’s fine by me. Whatever your physical needs may be, I will fulfill them,'” she said, explaining how she was harassed every day at work.
The harassment did not stop there. It then moved online when he started following her on Instagram. She had blocked him there.
