BARC woman employee charges boss with harassment

Twenty-eight-year-old A. Sushma, who has been working at BARC's Propulsion Reactor Plant (PRP) in Kalpakkam, 70 km from here, lodged a police complaint Jan 7 against S. Kumar, a senior scientist who supervised her work, charging him with inappropriate behaviour and use of indecent language.

"For the past two years, I have been facing harassment. I complained to my superiors orally, but since Kumar is a very senior person, I was told to try and avoid him," Sushma told IANS.

Sushma, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, joined BARC in 2005. Her husband T. Azhagu Vadivel also joined BARC that year.

 

Queried about the complaint, Amitava Roy, BARC's facilities director at Kalpakkam, told IANS: "The women's cell is already on the job. Certain procedures have to be followed while making an inquiry into such complaints."

A Kalpakkam police official told IANS that Kumar is expected to return from a trip to Vishakapatnam, and would be questioned once he arrives.