JOIN USIn an embarrassment to the Kerala Police, a woman has charged an officer of sexual harassment at an international conference on cyber crime here.
On Friday, the Kollam police registered a case against Assistant Commissioner of Police (hi-tech cell) N Vinayakumaran Nair based on a complaint by a woman, who anchored the two-day conference.
The incident occurred during cOcOn 2016, a cyber security and policing conference held on August 19 and 20 at a private resort in Kollam. The decision to register a case follows a report submitted by Kollam Rural District Police chief S Ajeetha Begum. Nair was earlier transferred out of his department following a preliminary enquiry by Thiruvananthapuram Range IG Manoj Abraham.
Nair pestered the anchor asking for her phone number and misbehaved with her during the conference. The incident came to light after she complained against Nair to the organisers. It is also learnt that he called the anchor after the conference hours. The case against Nair is registered at the Anchalumoodu police station.
“Based on the report submitted by the district police chief, we have registered an FIR under Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the IPC. The exact nature of the harassment has to be ascertained during the investigation,” a police officer in Kollam told DH. Nair, though, has denied the charge.
cOcOn 2016 had MP Shashi Tharoor as one of the keynote speakers. The conference featured sessions by experts from India and abroad on various aspects of cyber crime and policing.
Officer tried to touch, click photos
Kollam Rural District Police chief Ajeetha Begum said her investigation revealed that Nair tried to touch the complainant and capture her photos on his mobile phone without permission, DHNS reports. “Two girls were at the venue to compere. The accused wanted the phone numbers of both the girls; one of them refused, the other girl had to give in after repeated requests,” Begum told DH on Friday.