‘He asked me about my honeymoon’: TCS women employee alleges Nashik BPO ordeal

SHe united the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Nashik building block simply after her union. Workings as an associate, she would have been ecstatic to work for an IT giant. Instead, she has alleged that everything turned into a harrowing experience of harassment, taunting and obscene gestures from her fellow colleagues.The woman is among more than half a dozen women who have levelled allegations of sexual harassment and forced religious conversion against some colleagues at the TCS Nashik branch. The case is now being investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), and has led to the arrest of eight people. A total of nine FIRs have been filled.The victim told the investigators that she has been working in the TCS Nashik unit since June 2025, following her marriage."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 was quoted by NDTV as having told the police.The woman said a certain Raza Menon, team lead of the loans branch at the BPO, would repeatedly come up to her in the training room at that time and ask about her personal life. He allegedly had no connection otherwise with the training domain.He allegedly asked her that since her husband lived away, how she managed everything. Don't you get scared, he is alleged to have asked her, and offered help. He also asked her where she had gone for her honeymoon and what she did there.Raza Memon’s family has said office politics is the motive behind the "false" allegations levelled against him.The woman has also alleged that Memon used to get the backing of her team lead Shahrukh Qureshi, who would also comment on her marriage. He would ask her if she had an arranged or a love marriage, she has said.According to her claim, Memon would also join Shahrukh in harassing her and tell her that if she did not get along with her husband, she could let them know.The woman claimed that it was Raza who had named her “player” and said she mist have had many boyfriends."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. Then Raza would 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.On the day of Gudi Padwa in March this year, the woman complained that it was Raza who pulled at her 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.What the accused’s family had saidAccording to Raza Memon’s family, internal professional rivalry and office politics are the motive for the "false" sexual harassment and conversion allegations levelled against the TCS employee.The family described 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 is currently in police custody along with seven others.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.What TCS and the Maharashtra government saidTCS 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.India's biggest private-sector employer said on Friday 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".TCS announced an oversight panel and engagement of external entities in its internal probe.Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the matter is a cause for serious concern as it indicates "corporate jihad".