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NEW DELHI — In October 2015, a Bangalore-based start-up acted swiftly after a female employee accused her boss of sexual harassment. Once the complaint was filed, the company's Internal Complaints Committee (IC), set up in compliance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of 2013, also known as the POSH Act, took up the case. Five weeks later, the IC found that the allegations of sexual harassment against Arun Raj, then Vice President of Growth and Marketing for Wooplr, an online shopping app, were true. Wooplr demoted Raj to Senior Marketing Manager, suspended him for seven days, and docked his pay. Yet it was Raj, who ended up staying and growing at the company. He won back his position through successive promotions and is Wooplr's VP Growth and Marketing once more. The woman who complained against him, however, felt compelled to leave. The environment in her office felt hostile, she said, and she did not want to face her harasser every day. "I really thought they would fire him. I didn't expect them to be okay with having a sexual predator working in the place," the woman told HuffPost India. "It is a man's world." SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY BRIEF FROM HUFFPOST INDIA Get our top news delivered to your inbox every morning, Monday to Friday. Newsletters may offer personalized content or advertisements. Privacy Policy Newsletter Please enter a valid email address Thank you for signing up! You should receive an email to confirm your subscription shortly. There was a problem processing your signup; please try again later Facebook

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Flipboard CLOSE The woman's experience at Wooplr offers an insight into a little-discussed aspect of the pernicious problem of sexual harassment and assault at the workplace in India: the deck is so stacked against women employees that even when companies act against promptly male offenders, women still pay a heavy price. While male employees are treated as if they themselves are victims of the process, the women complainants find their careers stalled despite doing their best to act like professionals. Today, India's MeToo moment is forcing a conversation beyond the acknowledgement of widespread sexual harassment at the workplace to a far more uncomfortable conversation about what constitutes commensurate punishment for the offender, and the steps needed to ensure that complainants still feel valued at their workplace. READ: 'Queen' Director Vikas Bahl Sexually Assaulted Me, Phantom Films Did Nothing: Survivor Speaks Out At Wooplr, the woman said, she felt that the company did not do enough. When HuffPost India sent specific queries to the company, Woopler responded suggesting that the fact that the company acted on the complaint was evidence enough that the company acted in good faith. "Life went on for him as if nothing happened, but nothing worked out for me. I was driven out of there," the woman said. "I was the one who had to find another job and get a pay cut. I'm the one who has nightmares every day. I'm the one who is diagnosed with PTSD." PTSD refers to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. "I was in Nepal when the #MeToo movement happened, and since then it has been trigger, trigger, trigger," she said. I really thought they would fire him. I didn't expect them to be okay with having a sexual predator working in the place. Wooplr did not send specific replies to a detailed email HuffPost India sent regarding the incident and the events that followed, but offered the following statement as a response: "It is unequivocally asserted that the manner in which the complaint of sexual harassment was dealt with by the Company was entirely in accordance with the law." In a brief conversation with HuffPost India, Ankit Sabharwal, co-founder of Wooplr, said that the e-commerce startup did its best to deal with the situation. Sabharwal and another co-founder of Wooplr were members of the committee, along with two female employees and one external member. "We set up a committee, which made a recommendation of demotion, and we acted on it. We didn't even take a moment to ask anyone, to delay or to negotiate, and we acted swiftly," he said. We didn't even take a moment to ask anyone, to delay or to negotiate, and we acted swiftly. HuffPost India reached out to Nirmala Menon, CEO of Interweave Consulting, who has been part of several ICs in her 30-plus years as an HR professional, to gauge if Wooplr had decided on an adequate punishment in the case. As an external person it is impossible to comment on the decision of any IC, Menon said. "The specifics of every case is so different and only the IC members are privy to it. We just have to trust the process to do justice to a complaint," she said. "It is a moment for truth for the company and what it is willing to tolerate." Menon added, "The punishment must be a balanced one keeping the gravity of the offence in mind and in most cases, we give the person a chance to reform. It would be unfair to punish someone over and over again for the same crime". READ: New Accuser Says MJ Akbar Harassed Her When She Was An 18-Year-Old Intern Sexual harassment and assault The woman's recollection of the incident illustrates how seemingly routine workplace rituals—such as getting a drink with a colleague after work—can quickly turn into a fraught situation for female colleagues, with their male counterparts interpreting mundane social interactions as an invitation for sexual advances. The incident's aftermath brings home how women must then choose between speaking out and safeguarding their careers. "I may have been friendly with him but nothing more than that. I could never imagine he would attack me in that way," the woman said. "I thought it would be okay to be friends with my boss." On the intervening night of 10 and 11 September 2015, the woman and her boss left Prost brewery in Bangalore and made their way to her house in her car. While watching videos that night, Raj put his hand on her back, the inquiry committee subsequently established, but removed it when she objected. The next day, on the intervening night of 11 and 12 September, the woman and her boss left Prost brewery and went to her house in her car. The woman, who was 28 at the time, wanted Raj, then 30, to drop her off and take a cab back to his place. The woman said that she had asked Raj to wait in her house for the cab. While watching videos on her laptop, she said, he started playing pornography and then forced physical contact with her, not once but twice. Later in the day, on 12 September, Raj sent her a text saying, "Sorry about yesterday. Kinda got a little pushy now that I think."

Screenshot of the conversation between the woman and her boss. Screenshot of the conversation between the woman and her boss.

Speaking to HuffPost India, the woman said, "I simply did not have the balls to throw him out of the house because I knew that I had to go back to the office and see him. I didn't even do anything for the first two weeks when it happened. I decided to let it go," she said. At a gathering at a colleague's house on 16 September, four days after he had harassed her at her home, the woman said that Raj spent the evening staring at her. The next day, he sent her a text saying, "Hope I did not make you uncomfortable in anyway yesterday. Sorry if I did. It's just that your eyes are fucking mesmerizing...."

Screenshot of the conversation between the woman and her boss. Screenshot of the conversation between the woman and her boss.