HYDERABAD; A lady professor of Hyderabad, India, has filed a police complaint against a Non-Resident Indian – Vijai Sheker Pandulla of Houston, Texas – on charges of sexual harassment, stalking, cyber bullying and outraging the modesty of a woman.
Dr. V. Deepa Nair, Professor working at a well-known Administrative Training Institute in Hyderabad, who was also an attorney prior to joining the Institute, says in her complaint filed in Jubilee Hills Police Station in Hyderabad that she is active on Facebook and posts her independent opinion and comments on various social issues and political developments in India.
On May 18, she said she had posted some remarks on political situation in Karnataka saying people will teach a lesson to a faltering government in 2019 for not working as per the mandate of the people. This invited lot of comments for and against, during the course of which Vijai Sheker Pandulla, who was not on her friend’s list, barged in and started abusing her using filthy language saying to the extent that “she was born out of ten mothers”, to which she raised serious objection.
She also warned him that she will prefer a Police complaint. He retorted time and again saying “go for it if you have balls”. He also said “he was a bastard, was born out of her mother and his father” in the public platform which was highly derogatory and a punishable offence as per Indian Penal Code.
Dr Deepa Nair said “he used abusive and uncivilized words such as “genetic garbage from a street dog” and started bullying her causing acute mental agony and sleepless nights.
She preferred a police complaint under Section 354 A (Sexual Harassment), 354 D (Stalking) and 509 (Outraging modesty of a woman) which are serious offences under the Indian Penal Code. The Police have registered the case and no action has been initiated so far.
The irony is that she herself teaches on matters pertaining to Sexual Harassment and stalking (a serious crime as per the Nirbhaya Act and a punishable offence in India’s Penal Code) and on cyber bullying as one of the subjects to Trainee Civil Servants including IAS and IPS officers. Vijai Sheker Pandulla, a native of Telangana, is the CEO and Founder of Vasstra in Strand Street, Galveston, Houston, Texas and an active Facebook user.
Dr Nair has copied these complaints to Ms Sushma Swaraj, Minister for External Affairs in Government of India, the US Ambassador to India in New Delhi, Indian Ambassador to the US in Washington, Consul General of USA at Hyderabad, India, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook and the Director General of Police in Hyderabad.
A Professor with the apex government training institute and a faculty for All India Service and Civil Service officers and State Service Officers, Dr Deepa is also a certified gender trainer dealing with gender issues and harassment to women at work place.
She is also a member of the Internal Complaints Committee of various government departments conducting enquiries on complaints of sexual harassment at workplace and also conducts training programs for government and non-governmental and public sector organizations creating awareness among the employees.
She has been training several police officers and collectors on the subjects for over a decade. She is fighting for repatriation of Vijai Sheker Pandula from US to face charges in Hyderabad.
