A third woman has come forward with allegations of harassment against former The Energy and Resources Institute chief RK Pachauri, who has been facing similar charges from an ex-colleague and another complainant who emerged later on. The newest allegations come from a foreign national, who said she worked as his secretary for four months in 2008, when she was 19.

In a statement from her lawyers Vrinda Grover and Ratna Appnender, the woman has said that Pachauri behaved "differently" with her than other Indian men did. He often put his hands on her waist, hugged her longer than necessary and enquired about her private life. She said she began “feeling insecure about his motives for hiring” her, and “felt extremely uncomfortable” around him.

The woman said she then asked to be transferred to another department at TERI, but as Pachauri continued calling her to his office after her transfer, she asked not to work with the TERI chief any longer. Following her request, her contract with TERI was terminated. The woman went on to say that she was open about her experience of harassment at TERI and found that many others in Delhi were not surprised at Pachauri’s behaviour. She also said she did not think “there was any point” contesting the termination of her one-year contract after four months, and that she returned to Europe after this.

On March 1, the Delhi Police had filed a 1,400-page chargesheet against the once-acclaimed environmentalist, in a case of sexual harassment filed in February 2015. Pachauri recently alleged that the woman who had filed the case against him had done so for money. Earlier this week, British newspaper The Observer was heavily criticised for carrying a sympathetic story on Pachauri.