Bengaluru: A business partner of a private firm in the IT capital allegedly raped an employee in front of her one-year-old son during a field trip to Kodagu. The incident took place in April and the accused has been on the run since then.
According to reports, the woman had joined the firm as a customer care executive in January. She alleged the accused, T. Vivekananda, started harassing her for sexual favours and he continued to do so despite several warnings from her.
The incident is said to have taken place in April when Vivekananda planned a field trip to Kodagu, also the victim’s native place, and made it a compulsion for her to be there. Vivekananda, the woman and her son were accompanied by his business partner to Kodagu and the accused allegedly forced the victim to stay with them in a single room at a hotel.
The victim had taken her son to Kodagu thinking she would meet her mother and leave him with her till the end of the trip. She, however, had to keep her son at the hotel room because her mother asked her not to come home as some wild animals were sighted nearby.
The victim and her son were left alone with accused in the hotel room after the other business partner left for Bengaluru the next morning due to an emergency, said an officer privy to the investigation.
While they were still in Kodagu, Vivekananda allegedly filmed the woman while she was bathing and used the video to blackmail her, threatening to show it to her husband and upload it online.
He allegedly raped her for next few days and the victim did not protest fearing he would upload the video online.
The incident came to light when her husband found about the ordeal she was going through, following which they filed a complaint against her boss.
"Her husband learnt about the incident, the victim claims to have narrated her ordeal to him. The couple then decided to file a complaint. The North East division police have registered a complaint in this regard a few days back. Knowing that a complaint was being registered against him, the accused fled to Andhra Pradesh and is still on the run. He is also trying to obtain bail from a lower court," an officer said.
Meanwhile, the police are investigating if the other partner, who accompanied them to Kodagu, knew about the intentions of the accused.
