Alleged victim was the former secretary of Pachauri.
By Sreekanth A. Nair
A third woman has come forward with sexual allegations against Nobel Laureate RK Pachauri, who is facing legal actions under sexual harassment complaint filed by two former women employees of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).
The woman, of European origin, but whose identity has not been disclosed, was the secretary of Pachauri in India for four months. She left the organization in 2008 after her one-year-long contract was terminated after just four months.
The woman has issued a statement through her advocate Vrinda Grover describing her experience with the world-renowned environmentalist.
She said in her statement that she was “0 percent surprised” after knowing the sexual harassment complaints against Pachauri.
“I was 0% surprised. I can very much relate to what the other women wrote in her statement. When I was 19, I worked for 4 months (end of 2008) at TERI, as Pachauri’s secretary,” she said.
“I think it is important for me to now make my statement public so that people know the truth about Pachauri,” she added.
The woman whose identity has not been disclosed, alleged that she felt extremely uncomfortable and insecure with Pachauri’s behavior.
“..from the beginning Pachauri would put his hands on my waist repeated times, he would hug me longer than felt comfortable, kissed me on the cheek and inquired about my private life,” she said.
“On one of these occasions, I actually was sick and could not come to the office. He then came to my home with a bouquet of roses. This might sound sweet, but at that time I just felt uncomfortable and scared,” she said.
She claimed that she was transferred to another department. But Pachauri continued to call her even after that. Then she requested that she didn’t want to work with him anymore. Following the request, her contract was terminated and she went back to Europe.
In February 2015, a former woman employee of TERI had filed a complaint of sexual harassment against the chief of the organization. In February this year, another former employee had raised allegations of sexual harassment against the scientist.