'Offered To Sort Out Visa Issue, but...': Woman's Complaint Against WB Governor

This is the 2nd harassment complaint against Ananda Bose; weeks ago, a Raj Bhavan staffer alleged he molested her.

As per a report submitted by the Kolkata Police to the West Bengal government on 10 May, a woman had filed a complaint in October 2023, accusing Bose of sexually harassing her at a hotel in Delhi in January last year.

(Photo: The Quint)

Trigger warning: Mentions of sexual harassment.

"He went in his private car, without his security, to meet her at a hotel. She alleged that he sexually assaulted her [at the hotel]," a Kolkata Police official told The Quint on the condition of anonymity after a second case of sexual harassment surfaced against West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose last week.

The case pertains to a complaint filed in October last year by a woman survivor from the state who accused the Governor of sexually harassing her at a hotel in Delhi in January 2023, according to a report submitted by the Kolkata Police to the West Bengal government on 10 May.

A few weeks ago, a contractual staffer at Raj Bhavan had accused the Governor of sexual harassment.

According to the police official, the complainant alleged that Bose had promised to help her sort out a "personal problem."

The Quint reached out to Raj Bhavan multiple times. Responding to one of our emails, they wrote that the "email has been received and is being examined." Meanwhile, Bose is yet to react to her allegations.

What Did the Complainant Allege?

Speaking about the October 2023 complaint, the police official told The Quint that the woman said she had met the Governor for the first time at a function.

"She stated in her complaint that the Governor took her to Delhi to perform in a programme and promised her to introduce her to a Ministry of External Affairs official in Delhi after she had told him about some visa-related issues for her travel abroad. He then directed a relative of his in Bengaluru to book a flight ticket for her to Delhi. The Governor's relative also booked her a room in a luxury hotel in Delhi on 5-6 January. Bose stayed at Delhi's Banga Bhawan. One day, he decided to visit the woman in the hotel."

Kolkata Police Official

The Governor allegedly came alone in his private car – and harassed her at the hotel, the survivor claimed in her complaint. The official added that the woman alleged that the Governor sexually assaulted her inside the hotel room.

When The Quint reached out to the survivor, she said she was unwell and would speak to the media "in the next few days."

'I Felt Very Helpless,' Says Raj Bhavan Staffer

This fresh allegation comes in the backdrop of another sexual harassment allegation against the Governor.

A Raj Bhavan staffer alleged that she was sexually harassed by Bose on two occasions – on 24 April and 2 May.

"On 24 April, when I went to his chamber, the Governor told me that I was 'attractive' and different from others and that he needed a 'younger friend'. He went on to explain to me that he had started noticing me at office parties/programmes," the survivor alleged to The Quint.

The woman, who is in her late 20s, further alleged that "after the Governor touched her inappropriately, three Raj Bhavan employees tried to stop her from filing a complaint." They confined her to a room on the premises, forcibly took away her mobile phone and bag, and tried to change her mind about lodging a police complaint, she claimed.

"A pantry staff member and a peon tried to stop me and the [former IAS] officer forcibly confined me to the EPBX room and snatched my phone away when I was trying to call my mother. The peon grabbed my bag and tried snatching it when I was trying to run out of the room."

The Survivor to The Quint

Trinamool Congress Education Wing members during a protest against West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose over sexual assault allegations, in Kolkata on Friday, 17 May.

(Photo: PTI)

"I then felt very helpless and started screaming for help – and that is when they realised that if I continued to do so, they would be in trouble and handed me back my phone and bag. The Governor now has started calling me a Trinamool Congress agent after this," she claimed. 

The police on Saturday, 18 May, said that an FIR had been lodged against these three staffers at the Hare Street police station.

"The three officers have been included in the FIR for stopping the complainant woman from leaving Raj Bhavan by wrongfully restraining her on 2 May. We will investigate their roles on that evening," an official with the Kolkata Police told the media.

The police had confirmed to The Telegraph on 13 May that a Raj Bhavan staff member was spotted in CCTV footage from the Raj Bhavan compound carrying a bag, which they said belonged to the woman who accused Bose of sexual harassment.

As per the report by the Kolkata Police, the "footage seems to corroborate the complainant's statement that her bag was being carried by someone else."

The survivor further alleged to The Quint, "The Governor then decided to reveal my identity to the public. My identity has been compromised."

On 6 May, the Governor announced that he would show the CCTV footage of the premises of the Raj Bhavan on 2 May to 100 common people, excluding 'politicians' and police personnel.  

As per news reports, the footage, which is about 69 minutes long, captured by two CCTV cameras installed at the North Gate, showed the woman approaching policemen at the police outpost near the North Gate of Raj Bhavan around 5.33 pm on 2 May. 

However, for a few split seconds, the video showed the complainant (her face unblurred) leaving the main building of Raj Bhavan and speaking to the police personnel posted inside the compound near the North Gate. 

Revealing the identity of a survivor/victim of a sexual crime is against the law. "I know that because of constitutional immunity, nothing will happen to a sitting Governor. But what about the offence he committed? I have decided to write to the President [of India] seeking her intervention in the matter. I am writing to her to get justice and nothing else," the survivor told news agency PTI.

Meanwhile, reacting to the fresh allegations against Bose, The Indian Express quoted the staffer as saying: "I don't know whether he can still hold any constitutional post and enjoy immunity even after today's news…"