On Friday, the Khar police arrested venture capital investor Mahesh Murthy for allegedly harassing and stalking a 32-year-old Delhi-based woman on social media. He was later released after completing court-directed procedures.
The woman, a co-founder and CEO of an app development firm, had approached the National Commission for Women (NCW), after which the case was brought to the notice of Maharashtra police and a case was lodged against Murthy. In a cascading effect, several other women came forward to narrate their alleged similar encounters with Murthy.
Murthy, a resident of Bandra, is a marketer and investor specialising in early-stage startups, founder and CEO of Pinstorm, and managing partner at Seedfund. The complainant said Murthy used objectionable, derogatory sexual remarks and obscene signs on social media.
In her post, she said, "I wished Mahesh Murthy Merry Christmas n a new year I got a response something like that. Unfortunately my LinkedIn app allows me to add only one picture but I want to know from my fellow entrepreneurs and investors do we deserve this? So next time when you talk to investors you should mentally prepare yourself."
"We summoned Murthy to the police station and recorded his statement in which he claimed that he does not know the complainant," said a police officer. "The complainant has submitted screenshots of the chats with Murthy and said she found the 'kisses' emoticons objectionable."
Senior Inspector Ramchandra Jadhav of Khar police station said, "We have arrested him under sections 354 (D) (stalking) and 509 (word, act or gesture to outrage modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code and under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act. We will produce him in the Bandra court on Saturday. We are investigating further. Regarding the claims on social media that Murthy molested other women, we will register their statements if they come forward. We are trying to contact them."
On his blog, Murthy denied all allegations against him.
