#MeToo Shocker: Law Intern Who Died Had Filed An FIR Against Her Advocate Boss, Reveals Bengaluru Police Probe

The Vyalikaval police who had been probing the death of Pushpa Archana Lall, a law intern from Andaman and Nicobar islands, have stumbled upon a sexual harassment case filed by her with the Commercial Street police on 20 November, reports Bangalore Mirror.

Pushpa had arrived in the city in 2017 with the intent of pursuing an internship with Jayanth M Puttanshetti and Associates, a legal firm located on Infantry Road.

According to a copy of the FIR, she said she was assigned to work with an advocate named Chandra Naik T at the firm.

“Naik introduced Pushpa to another advocate called Chetan Desai, a pleader with the Karnataka High Court. Both of them used to take her to pubs and bars and force her to consume alcohol. They would then touch her inappropriately and sexually harass her,” read the FIR.

Neither the firm nor the lawyer accused of harassment was available for comment. The Vyalaikaval police later confirmed that the owner of the PG where Pushpa stayed in claimed that she had doubts about the cause of her death and requested a thorough investigation in a complaint registered.

The PG owner, Leelavathi, was quoted by the police as saying that an advocate had introduced Pushpa to her requesting her to give her accommodation at her PG, on 16 November. The advocate had paid Rs 7,000 as advance for the room, said the police.