Exclusive: Two TERI Employees Told to get Complainant to Back Off

A new complainant in the Pachauri case claims senior officials coaxed him to get the complaint withdrawn.

Top officials from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) repeatedly “coaxed and cajoled” a male researcher to approach the complainant and help end the sexual harassment case against TERI Director General RK Pachauri, The Economic Times, reported earlier today.

But the sexual harassment complainant, speaking to The Quint, has said it was not just one but two TERI employees who were asked to approach her to settle out of court.

Not one but two people were approached by the same senior member of TERI. While one of them has filed a written complaint, the other person is now an ex-employee. She was known to me and my family and hence approached.

Pachauri Sexual Harassment Survivor

In a written complaint to Delhi Police the junior researcher, who has since resigned from TERI, reveals he was asked to reach out to his friend, the 29-year-old woman who filed a FIR registered against Pachauri.

He was allegedly instructed to pressurise her into settling out of court,

You must reach out to your lady friend and get her to settle it out of court as this will be good for her as there is nothing more left to achieve.

Highlights of the Complaint

• Four senior officials were involved in trying to get the complaint against Pachauri withdrawn.
  
• They insisted it needs to be done in a “hush-hush” manner.
  
• The researcher did not complain earlier because he “feared for his job”.
  
• The original complainant was “disturbed” when she was informed about this.
  
• The researcher was first approached in July-end 2015.

In an exclusive interview with The Quint two months ago, following her resignation, the survivor had alleged that the environment at TERI was so hostile that she was left with no option but to quit.

She made scathing allegations against TERI, claiming that the organisation made no effort to keep her identity a secret, in a clear violation of section 228A of the Indian Penal Code, a statutory legal provision to protect the identity of those who have been sexually assaulted.