Thodupuzha corporation bank MD ousted after sexual harassment complaint
KOCHI: Jose K Peter, the controversial managing director of Thodupuzha Urban Cooperative Bank Ltd (TUBCL) who is accused of sexually harassing a senior woman employee and further intimidating her by reading out a confidential complaint submitted to the chairman at a meeting of managerial-level staff, has been ousted from the bank.
“The bank suspended the MD after we found that there was truth in the allegations. He tendered his resignation from the bank following the suspension,” said TUBCL chairman V V Mathai.
According to sources, Jose tendered his resignation after the FIR in the sexual harassment case was charged against him.
A screen grab of the sexual harassment report published in TNIE
A screen grab of the sexual harassment report published in TNIE
Though he moved the High Court to secure an anticipatory bail, it was not granted on June 3. The bail petition is now posted for June 26.
As reported by TNIE last month, Jose got hold of the confidential sexual harassment complaint submitted by the employee against him, and he read it out at the head office after convening a meeting of managerial-level staff, intimidating the woman officer.
Further, a complaint filed with the DySP, Thodupuzha, on March 25 this year, was also leaked to the accused who read out the contents on April 1 after convening all the staff at the bank’s main office in Thodupuzha.
As per the FIR, Jose misbehaved with the woman on June 2023, who later transferred her to the main branch, and summoned her to his cabin on November 17, 2023, and harassed her again by uttering sexually abusive language, according to the copies of the letters in possession with TNIE.
The victim, a branch manager of the bank, is a widow who brought up her two children who were aged 10 and 8 after her husband passed away.
Meanwhile, after his resignation, the bank stumbled upon several unauthorised correspondences with RBI, in which Jose Peter was seen trying to implicate the chairman and a few bank employees with unsubstantiated allegations. This was confirmed by chairman Mathai.
