5-star hotel security manager held for ‘sexually harassing’ colleague in Delhi

The woman has filed a complaint at IGI Airport police station. DCP (IGI) Sanjay Bhatia confirmed that an FIR has been lodged under IPC sections 354, 354(a), 354(b) and 354(d). The accused, Pawan Dahiya, was arrested on Friday and later released on bail after he deposited a security amount of Rs 25,000. The 33-year-old woman told The Indian Express that the incident took place on July 29. “It was my birthday. He called me to the CCTV room in the hotel and asked me if I wanted a gift. I refused any gifts from him. He took out his credit card and kept insisting I take a gift from him. He then asked me to sit and when I did not, he pulled me towards him by my saree and tried to disrobe me,” the woman alleged.

The woman alleged the accused kept mounting pressure on her to enter into a physical relationship with him. “All this was taking place in front of a team leader and he did nothing and stood by and watched,” she alleged.

The woman later managed to wrest herself from the grasp of the accused and leave the room after another staff member walked in, she alleged. She added that she left the hotel on foot, while the accused followed her in his Etios car, rolled down the window and grabbed her by the hand, insisting that she sit inside his vehicle.

“I somehow managed to free myself and got to Delhi Aerocity Metro station, where I called up my HR assistant manager and told him about the entire incident. Later, on August 1 as well, I complained against him to the hotel authorities… I was scared,” she said. The woman also sought the help of a team leader from the hotel to procure the CCTV footage as evidence. On Thursday, when she reported for duty, she was asked to meet with the HR department, after which she was served a termination notice, which she refused to accept and left the notice lying on the table, she alleged.

Raja Singh, who is in-charge of the PR and marketing department of the hotel, said they had suspended Dahiya the day the woman brought forward the complaint. The woman said she wants her job back and for the team leader who procured the CCTV footage to be reinstated. “I come from a poor family. My husband does not earn much and I have two children. I wanted to work for a decent living and not be forced to sell myself,” she said.