The world’s top climate change official has protested his innocence after being accused of sexual harassment by a 29-year-old researcher at his organisation.
The female employee lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police accusing Rajendra Pachauri, a 75-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, of repeated inappropriate behaviour, both physically and through emails, texts and WhatsApp messages.
Dr Pachauri, the chairman of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – which plans to broker a global treaty to tackle global warming in December – vigorously denies all allegations. It is understood that the researcher works at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) think-tank in New Delhi, where Dr Pachauri is director-general.
The respected academic said he had been a victim of hacking, claiming his email, mobile phone and WhatsApp messages have been hacked and that cyber criminals have used his computer without authorisation to commit criminal activities.
“Your questions have no connection with the truth,” Dr Pachauri told India’s Economic Times newspaper when approached with details of the allegations.
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