FIR against ScoopWhoop co-founder Suparn Pandey

New Delhi: A former employee of ScoopWhoop has alleged that she was sexually harassed by a co-founder of the online news portal, weeks after TVF’s Arunabh Kumar was booked by the Mumbai police on similar charges.

The complainant is a former senior executive of ScoopWhoop Media Pvt. Ltd and that in the FIR lodged at the Vasant Kunj (South) police station, the complainant recounts how the news portal’s co-founder Suparn Pandey, over two years of her tenure, “made lewd remarks, passed inappropriate comments on her sexuality and sexual preferences, and got uncomfortably close, often trying to play with her hair.”

The officer said that Mr Pandey has been booked for sexual harassment, using word or gesture to outrage the modesty of a woman and criminal intimidation.

The complainant has also alleged that her pleas to the office administration went unheard. The police is probing the case and no arrest has been made so far.

In an official statement, ScoopWhoop said, “We are extending full cooperation to the police to conduct a full and fair investigation into the matter.” “ScoopWhoop strongly condemns any kind of harassment at the workplace. We work towards ensuring a safe and secure workplace for all our employees and take any complaints of harassment extremely seriously. We are fully prepared to accept the findings of the investigations and dutifully take the necessary action if found guilty,” it said. The matter is also being inquired by ScoopWhoop’s internal complaints committee.

In February, an anonymous blog post by a woman alleging sexual harassment by The Viral Fever CEO, Arunabh Kumar, when she worked at the firm between 2014 and 2016, had gone viral. It was followed by similar allegations by some other women. Two cases of sexual harassment were filed against Kumar in separate police stations in Mumbai. One of the cases was lodged based on a complaint filed by a former employee of TVF.