Mumbai: Tech Mahindra sacked its training head Richa Gautam on Saturday after a former employee accused her of homophobia on social media.

Gautam, formerly head of diversity and inclusivity at the company, had been accused of posting tweets against Sania Mirza and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

After the Supreme Court legalised consensual adult gay sex on September 6, Darjeeling-based Gaurav Probir Pramanik wrote an email to Gautam on September 9 and shared it on social media.

"I had promised to write to you the day IPC Section 377 was scrapped and being a homosexual in a country as great as India was no longer a crime," Gaurav wrote, alleging he had been humiliated and forced to leave the company in 2015.

He said Gautam and some others in his team had called him effeminate and bullied him for being gay, affecting his performance. Gaurav further alleged that Gautam had mocked a weeping colleague, asking why he was "crying like a gay".

This newspaper could not contact Gautam for her comments. Since Gaurav's complaint, Gautam has been protecting her tweets, which are visible only to those she allows to follow her on Twitter.

Shortly after Gaurav went public with his grievances, Mahindra group chairman Anand Mahindra personally promised him support.

"I can categorically assure you that we celebrate diversity in our workplace. Our code of conduct is explicit on this subject. TechM is investigating these allegations and appropriate action will follow," he tweeted.

Late on Saturday night, Tech Mahindra's official handle posted a tweet addressed to Gaurav, saying: "Arising out of an investigation carried out in the matter, the concerned employee has been separated from the employment of the company with immediate effect." It added: "At Tech Mahindra, we believe in diversity and inclusion and condemn discrimination of any kind in the workplace."

Anand Mahindra and the Tech Mahindra CEO re-tweeted the statement.

Gautam, who tweets under the name Naina Singh1234, had once described Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza as a "Pak loyalist".

On October 4, 2016, she had tweeted she wanted to join the army to kill Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. She later called for the "killing" of former JNU student leader Umar Khalid and Dalit politician and Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, calling them "anti-national".