Molestation allegations: Governor footage leaves 'room' for doubt

 Footage was shown from two cameras — one near the North Gate and the other near the Raj Bhavan police outpost — not far from the main building 

The screening of the CCTV footage at Raj Bhavan. Sourced by the Telegraph.

Monalisa Chaudhuri, TT, Calcutta, 10.05.24 :  The Raj Bhavan showed CCTV footage for over an hour to a gathering of citizens on Thursday but not of the rooms where governor C.V. Ananda Bose has been accused of harassing a woman employee on April 24 and May 2.

The footage clearly showed the woman on the Raj Bhavan compound. On Thursday evening, she said: “Videos of mine have been circulated by Dr Bose without my permission and without blurring my face and body. I have learned that this is a crime.”

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She added: “I have already received this unblurred video from one of those who attended the event. That means it has been circulated and with the specific purpose of maligning my dignity.”

Indian law restricts people from revealing the identity of a sexual harassment complainant.

Bose had announced an email ID and a telephone number for ordinary citizens to register to see the footage. The Telegraph was at the Raj Bhavan to see the footage.

Footage was shown from two cameras — one near the North Gate and the other near the Raj Bhavan police outpost — not far from the main building.

A Raj Bhavan staff member said there was no CCTV camera in the first-floor room where the alleged May 2 incident happened. It could not be ascertained whether the room where the alleged April 24 incident took place has a CCTV camera.

Here’s what the footage showed and what it did not:

What was shown

· May 2, 5.33pm: A woman (purportedly the complainant) is seen walking hurriedly towards the police outpost. Her face is visible in the footage. She lifts her hand once, apparently asking something from a policeman nearby. She then walks towards the outpost.

Several men in white police uniform are seen standing, talking among themselves. A man and a second woman, wearing white and green salwar-kameez with a green dupatta, are seen walking behind the woman. The man and this second woman part ways as the man walks out of the main gate. The second woman comes near the outpost and stands there for a few minutes.

· 5.37pm: The second woman, later identified as a Raj Bhavan staff member, is seen loitering outside the police outpost and the sentry posts, making phone calls. The complainant has named this second woman to the police as one of those who allegedly tried to stop her when she was going to the police.

· 6.03pm: A fire tender arrives and heads into the Raj Bhavan as part of the security detail before the arrival of the Prime Minister. Narendra Modi visited Calcutta the same day and spent the night at the Raj Bhavan.

The complainant is still inside the police outpost.

· 6.29pm: The deputy commissioner (reserve force) of city police, who is in charge of Raj Bhavan security, is seen briefing police personnel. The complainant is still inside the police outpost and is not visible in the footage any more.

· 6.41pm: The footage ends with a large number of police personnel standing in the compound. The woman is still inside.

Not shown

· Any footage from inside the Raj Bhavan building where the alleged harassment happened. The closest that is visible in the footage is a portion of the Raj Bhavan compound several metres from the main building.

· Any footage from the room where, according to the woman’s police complaint, the governor had made physical advances on her on April 24.

· Any footage from the room where the governor had called her on May 2 and later allegedly tried to touch her inappropriately.

· Any footage from the room where the woman was allegedly confined and where her phone and bag were allegedly snatched.

· Any footage from the ground-floor corridor from where she says she entered the office of a senior Raj Bhavan official to report the incident before she came out of the building.

The woman has told the police she was crying while walking down the corridor. “There is a camera in the corridor and one near the lift. The footage from any of these cameras would have shown me crying,” the woman told this newspaper on Thursday.

· Footage of the woman stepping out of the outpost. (The woman has alleged that some Raj Bhavan staff were waiting outside the outpost and tried to send her home in an official vehicle, which she refused.)