After reports of alleged forcible religious conversion at the Nashik unit of IT giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a man has been arrested for allegedly sending obscene messages to former female colleagues. The action followed a complaint by a 19-year-old Mumbai woman, one of the victims, alleging harassment by a male colleague.
Arshad Siddiqui, 25, is accused of sending obscene messages to women, harassing them over phone calls and passing lewd remarks stating that he “likes Hindu girls.”
According to the complaint by the teenager, she worked as a telecaller at a company in Mumbai’s Mahalakshmi area, where she met the accused. Siddiqui is accused of obtaining the complainant’s and other women’s mobile numbers from an office WhatsApp group and sharing inappropriate content.
“We got to know each other there (at work), but we never spoke to each other. He got my number through the group,” the victim told news agency IANS. “After getting the number, he started sending me vulgar videos and photos… He would say that if he married me, he would never ask me to leave the Hindu religion or tell me not to wear a Kalava (sacred thread) or go to temples…”
NDTV accessed some of the chats between the victim and the accused. One WhatsApp conversation shows Siddiqui had shared a porn video, asking the victim to watch it. “See this porn,” he messaged along with the video.
In another conversation, the girl told Siddiqui: “Mai Hindu hu (I’m Hindu)” to which he replied that he has had many Hindu girlfriends. “Aaj kal Hindu girls ko bhi Muslim hi pasand aate hai (These days, Hindu women like Muslim men),” he added.
Siddiqui is accused of misusing company data, stealing women’s mobile numbers and texting them.
“After leaving the company, he (Siddiqui) extracted the contact numbers of four women, specifically Hindus and began sending them obscene messages and pornographic videos,” said the complainant’s father. “My daughter was one of the women he texted. When she shared it with me, we lodged a formal complaint.”
According to the initial investigation, Siddiqui harassed three other women apart from the complainant. All have agreed to record their statements.
Condemning the incident, former Mumbai Mayor, Kishori Pednekar, said Siddiqui kept changing his number to continue harassing the victim. The police’s timely action helped arrest the accused, she added.
Siddiqui is the nephew of Samajwadi Party leader and corporator, Iram Siddiqui. His uncle, Sajid Siddiqui, has given a free hand to the police to take appropriate legal action against the accused.
(With inputs from Ruttik Ganakwar)
