Rajendra Pachauri investigation: Third woman accuses ex-IPCC chair of sexual advances

The former chair of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Rajendra Pachauri, is facing further investigation after a third woman claimed she was sexually harassed by him. Earlier in March Pachauri was charged with sexually harassing, stalking and intimidating a female employee who worked for The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), which was once led by Pachauri.

A second woman, who worked for TERI also filed a police report against the 75-year-old, and the former head of the UN climate change panel has so-far denied the allegations against him. Now a third woman has decided to make a statement against him.

Pachauri left his role as head of the IPCC in February last year. During his tenure the IPCC was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 2007. Set up in 1988 the IPCC is the international body for assessing the science related to climate change.

The third woman, aged 19, worked at the New Delhi branch of TERI in 2008 when Pachauri began showing an interest in her. She said according to the Guardian that he "would put his hands on my waist repeated times, he would hug me longer than felt comfortable, [and] kissed me on the cheek".

On one occasion, she said, Pachauri went to her home. "I actually was sick and could not come to the office. He then came to my home with a bouquet of roses. This might sound sweet, but at that time I just felt uncomfortable and scared.

"He would call me during non-working hours and holidays to ask me to come to his office and when arriving it became evident that he had no specific task for me. Pachauri would indulge in frivolous talk and try to get close to me."

She said that she became "genuinely scared" when he invited her to his summer house making it clear his wife was not there. After asking to move to another department she claims he told her that her contract would be ended early.

The first complainant, a 29-year-old former TERI employee, says that he sent her inappropriate texts and emails but Pachauri claims his email account had been hacked. The second claimant's made a complaint to the police in 2015, but it was not included in the final charge sheet.