"I Was Working for CM Yogi Adityanath": Woman Alleges Sexual Harassment, Victim-Blaming and Termination After Speaking Out at UP Creative Agency

Key Points:

ON SEPTEMBER 9, 2026, a video was published by Top Secret featuring an interview with a woman working with the Information Department of Uttar Pradesh, who alleged that she was sexually harassed. In the video, she said that even though she was working for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath himself, such things happened to her. Journalist Abhishek Upadhyay took the woman’s interview, who appeared on camera with her face covered.

Other than this, she also revealed how objectionable clips of UP Leader of Opposition Akhilesh Yadav were created using AI. The alleged victim also said that the party sometimes targets leaders within the BJP, such as Keshav Maurya. She was asked to stay home and said that her emails remained unanswered. She also alleged that a fellow female employee tried to persuade her and cool her down so that she would not file an FIR.

Woman Alleges Sexual Harassment At UP Creative Agency

In the Top Secret interview, the woman gave a detailed account of what happened to her. The incident happened in March-April 2026, and she described the period as a terrible one for her. She said that she worked at the creative agency Famous Innovations, which used to work on videos, hoardings, and other creative work for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

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She joined the organization in December 2025 and worked there until June 2026. During this time, she said that there were many instances where things happened against her wishes. The victim said, “People said inappropriate things to me, and one particular case was the biggest. A person harassed me and tried to touch me.” She said that while working in an office environment, she was friendly towards everyone, but there are limits that should not be crossed.

The General Manager of the place, Nilesh Tharwani, instead of stopping these instances, used to support the person in the wrong. She said, “From the beginning, he would come to me jokingly and say things like, ‘Tell this person that he looks very handsome,’ and ‘I was missing you,’ …he was playing Cupid in this way.” She said these things continued to happen, and even after ignoring them several times, they became more serious. She then started raising her voice.

The woman said one day things became way too serious, and she then contacted GM Tharwani and complained that a certain person was contacting her again and again. She even announced that if this continued, she would file an FIR. She then also emailed the company and mentioned all the things happening to her. She said that women try to hide these things because of job security.

Asked To Stay Home After Harassment Complaint 

While talking to Abhishek Upadhyay, the woman said that she was asked to stay at home. “Sir, I emailed them. Immediately after that, I received an email from their CEO, Mithila Sharaf, saying that I should sit at home for four to five days and come back when they called me.” The victim explained that this time was very bad for her and that she was anxious about what would happen. She highlighted that she wondered why this was happening to her if she was not in the wrong.

She said, “You should stop the person who behaved improperly from coming to the office. Instead, they told me to stay home.” There was no job security at this time, and there was no response from the company about what would happen next. After two or three conversations, the victim agreed to meet the CEO, Mithila, outside the office.

As per the victim, the behaviour of the CEO was very nice. “I spoke to her and thought she was a good woman and was trying to understand me and take a stand for me.” But according to her it was just a tactic to calm her down and stop her from filing a complaint. During the meeting, she explained everything that had happened to her and how there are limits and no one should touch a fellow employee. She said she did everything, but nothing happened.

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Later, they temporarily called her back to the office, and when she reached the office, she saw that the seat where she used to work was no longer empty. Another employee was sitting there, and her seat had been removed and placed in another room temporarily where discussions and meetings took place.

She expressed disappointment, saying, “I am surprised that I was working for the Chief Minister and in Uttar Pradesh, where there is so much talk about women’s empowerment and women’s safety, yet this is happening with a girl working for the Chief Minister.” She said that when she met the CEO, Mithila Sharaf, she was victim-shamed.

“She told me that I should not talk to anyone and should not be friendly with anyone. She said, ‘You are responsible for what they do to you.’” The victim said she replied that she was just talking to him like a normal employee should and that even after she clearly told him not to behave inappropriately, he still continued. She also said that she tried to reach out to higher authorities like Vishal Singh, the Information Director of Uttar Pradesh and Sanjeev Singh who is also a major position holder in UP social welfare department, but nothing happened. She said that she was being sidelined and removed from work, and some women also tried to persuade her to resign.

She said that later, when she was handed the termination letter, she went to the GM to ask about it, and he allegedly said, “What do you think? Do you think this is our own decision? This is Vishal Ji’s decision. Do whatever you want, nothing will happen. It is better for you to leave quietly from here.”

The woman claimed that later, when she came to know that the matter had reached Vishal Ji, there was a meeting with government officials where he said, “Vishal Ji had said something about a woman to Nilesh Tharwani, that ‘some people in your creative team used to sleep with snakes.’”

She believed this was a reference to her, as she used to rescue animals and had rescued snakes. She said it was inappropriate for him to talk like this. “This is a disgusting thing. I cannot expect someone sitting at such a position and level to say something like this. I feel this should be investigated.” 

She also alleged that she received threats from many people, saying, “I received many threats that these people would have something done to me and that they would do this or that.” She further added that despite all these odds, she wants to come forward and tell people about this larger issue. She said she is doing this so that others become aware of such behaviour in the future. To support her claims, she also shared screenshots of emails and other records.

(Edited by Harsh Pandey)

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