Hotel official arrested for molesting woman colleague, released on bail

New Delhi, August 18 (IANS): The Security Manager of a five-star hotel near the Indira Gandhi International Airport was arrested on Friday after a CCTV footage emerged showing him trying to disrobe a woman employee in his office.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjay Bhatia told IANS that the accused has been identified as Pawan Dahiya(44). He was taken into custody after CCTV footage of the incident, which took place last month, was aired by news channel CNN-News18. He was later released on bail by Patiala House court.

“Since these are bailable offences, Dahiya was given bail by the court,” Bhatia said.

The footage shows Dahiya, seated in his office in the Pride Plaza Hotel, trying to pull the saree of the woman who is seen desperately trying to protect herself.

The incident is said to have taken place on July 29 when the 33-year-old woman, whose birthday it was that day, was called by Dahiya, her boss to his office.

“Dahiya, who is a resident of Kakrola Village in Dwarka More, then asked the victim to sit near him but the woman suspected his intentions and refused to do so. He wished her and asked her to buy herself a gift, giving her his credit card,” said Bhatia.

However, the woman refused to accept it and sought to leave. But when “she was leaving his cabin, he tried to pull her saree, which was seen in the footage. The woman is seen protecting herself in front of a team leader, but he left quietly instead of coming to her rescue,” he added.

In an interview to the channel, the victim said that on the evening after the incident, when she left for home, Dahiya stalked her all the way to the Delhi Aerocity Metro station and insisted that she sit in his car. He was mounting pressure on her to get into a physical relation with him, she added.

According to Bhatia, the woman informed her senior manager about the immoral intention of Dahiya but he did not intervene.

The woman said the Human Resource Department of the hotel also did nothing after she narrated her ordeal to them. Instead, “I was told to think about it and come the next day.

“The HR person said I was in trouble because of my own fault and tried to scare me saying he (Dahiya) may have something against me,” she told the news channel.

“Moreover, the hotel sacked me for exposing the manager and also a colleague who had come to my rescue,” she said.

“I will take legal action against the officials and win back my job and my colleague’s job.”

Meanwhile, the hotel denied the woman had been sacked.

“Dahiya has been suspended. The woman has not been coming to work since then, and our Human Resource Department has been trying to get in touch with her. She is welcome to come back, if she so wants,” hotel spokesman Raja Singh told IANS.