Photo: Siasat Daily
Nashik: A court in Nashik has granted bail to Nida Khan, an accused in a case involving allegations of sexual harassment and religious coercion at the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) unit, observing that compelling a pregnant woman to give birth in prison would subject her to severe trauma.
In the order, Additional Sessions Judge K.G. Joshi referred to the circumstances surrounding the birth of Lord Krishna while noting that no woman should have to endure childbirth in custody. However, the court also observed that the investigation indicated Khan, along with a co-accused, had allegedly attempted to influence the complainant's ideological beliefs and persuade her to change her religion, Siasat Daily reported.
The court noted that the first information report (FIR) specifically attributed a role to Khan and referred to the investigation's allegation that the accused tried to convince the complainant by making objectionable claims about the Hindu religion.
The bail order, granted on July 6, was made available on July 9. The court accepted Khan's plea after taking into account the defence's submission that she was five months pregnant. It observed that keeping her in custody would serve no purpose as the investigation had been completed and the charge sheet had already been filed.
Khan's counsel, Rahul Kasliwal, argued that she had been falsely implicated in the case. He also submitted that she was highly educated and had worked as an associate at TCS before her employment was terminated in April 2026.
The prosecution, represented by public prosecutor Vijay Gaikwad along with lawyers Milind Kurkute and Nitin Pandit, opposed the bail pleas of Khan and co-accused Danish Shaikh. They argued that the investigation had yielded sufficient evidence of sexual assault and alleged religious coercion.
According to the prosecution, Shaikh allegedly gave the complainant an Islamic religious book and a burqa with the intention of facilitating religious conversion. The prosecution contended that the evidence suggested the complainant had been sexually exploited and subjected to efforts aimed at converting her religion.
The court granted Khan bail on a personal bond of Rs 75,000 along with one solvent surety of the same amount.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Nashik Police is investigating nine cases related to allegations of sexual exploitation, attempted forced religious conversion, hurting religious sentiments, molestation and mental harassment involving female employees at the TCS unit.
The present case was registered at the Deolali Camp police station under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to sexual intercourse by deceitful means, sexual harassment and outraging religious feelings. The accused have also been booked under relevant provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, as the complainant belongs to the Scheduled Caste community.
According to the investigation, Khan allegedly played a role in influencing the complainant by giving her a burqa and religious literature. She is also accused of installing Islamic applications on the complainant's mobile phone, visiting her residence to teach her how to offer namaz and showing her how to wear a hijab.
Following the allegations, TCS stated that it has a longstanding zero-tolerance policy towards harassment and coercion in any form and said the employees accused in the Nashik case had been suspended.