Police have booked two male teachers of Presidium School in Sonepat for allegedly molesting a female colleague several times. The victim, a mathematics teacher and a resident of Delhi, filed a complaint with the police that the two accused had been touching her inappropriately and passing lewd comments at her for the last six months. The alleged incident took place on the campus of Presidium School, Omaxe City, one of the top private schools in Sonepat. She stated that she first approached the principal of the school with her complaint, however, no action was taken on it. She then reached to the police, almost after six months of bearing the torture, she stated. Based on her complaint, the police have booked the two accused under sections 354-A (sexual harassment) and 34 (common intent of crime) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

A senior employee of a city-based financial services company was booked by the police for allegedly demanding sexual favours from a female colleague. “ About a month ago, the woman was walking towards the washroom at her office, when the accused touched her inappropriately and demanded sexual favours," an officer attached to Yerawada police told the media.The incident was not reported immediately as the woman employee remained apprehensive about the fallout from a complaint. But on Friday, after she informed her relatives about it, they convinced her to file a formal report. Authorities have registered a case under sections 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman) and 354 (A) (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code. A probe is under way, the police said.

A 33-year-old woman employee was assaulted by the security manager in the Park Plaza Hotel, New Delhi. She was called in the CCTV Room by the Security Manager where she was sexually harassed by him. She reported to the HR department but the HR Team didn’t take any action. She filed a complaint in IGI Airport Police Station the security manager. Her colleague collected the CCTV footage for proof. The accused was arrested.

A principal scientist of CSIR, Bangaluru sexually harassed four students for the past few months. The students sent written complaints to the local police who arrested the accused. Later the students decided to approach the former state chief secretary who gave information about the incident to the Chairman of Expert Committee on Prevention of Sexual Harassment.

Women workers of Venture Lighting India Limited, a factory inside the Madras Export Processing Zone- SEZ, have only horror stories to share about their lives inside the factory, with pervasive sexual harassment by a supervisor, In a spontaneous show of unity, more than 700 workers, men and women, decided to strike demanding that the supervisor be dismissed.
http://tnlabour.in/factory-workers/4745

Medical superintendent of a hospital in Nagpur sustained serious injuries after he was thrashed following a complaint by a woman attendant, accusing him of sexual harassment. The medical superintendent, who was assaulted on the hospital premises, was slapped with offence of sexual harassment.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/medical-supdtthrashed-forsexual-harassment/articleshow/56986950.cms

The principal of a prominent government school in north Bengaluru was arrested after students and staffers accused him of sexual harassment. Police said the school management asked him to go on leave.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/principal-arrested-on-harassment-charges/articleshow/56964431.cms

The state labour department has imposed a monthly penalty of Rs 50,000 for five years on a senior manager of a software company who is facing charges of sexual harassment. The department also directed the company not to promote him or give him any hike for the next three years. The additional labour commissioner, who is the appellate authority, has held the company responsible for the violation and asked it to pay monetary compensation to the woman. The complainant appealed to the labour department after the company's internal complaints committee quashed her petition. Holding the company guilty of creating an atmosphere conducive for sexual harassment, the appellate authority ruled that under the provision of Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013, the company management has to pay her Rs 4,80,000 towards her monthly salary between September 2015 and December 2016.

A female employee of a Delhi-based publishing house has moved court against the company's managing director, accusing him of sexual harassment at workplace. The woman, a single mother, has alleged that Vikas Gupta, the MD of Wiley India, often had conversations with her that had sexual connotations during office hours and at night over phone.

Government women employees, who become victims of workplace sexual harassment, will now get protection for five years from the day their complaint is proved to ensure that they are “not subjected to vendetta.” An order was issued on December 22 by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT)

A four-member committee has found “prima facie substance” in allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct levelled by a woman constable against a Chhattisgarh IGP, Pavan Dev, saying the 1992-batch IPS officer made “inappropriate phone calls”, some in the wee hours of the morning. The constable had filed a complaint in June this year, producing copies of three recordings of calls reportedly made to her by the IGP late in the night, and said the senior officer would ask her to “come to the bungalow or the office”, and comment on her “figure and personality”.
click here

Growing complaints about the mishandling of workplace sexual harassment cases have prompted a government drive to get the members of offices' internal complaints cells trained by experts. The idea is to enlist research and educational institutions and NGOs versed in gender issues and gender laws, which will nominate some of their experts as the trainers. A list of these names will be posted on the women and child development ministry's website and published in newspapers so that employers can contact them to train their internal committee members, if they so want.

Former TERI Chief R K Pachauri, facing prosecution in a sexual harassment case, was asked by a Delhi court to bring a fresh surety, saying the current one would not be able to secure his presence when required. Metropolitan Magistrate Shivani Chauhan also took strong exception to the non-suppliance of certain case related documents by the police to Mr Pachauri, who was present in the court, and the prosecutor saying in these circumstances it is hard to believe that prosecution is being conducted at all. As per the report, the surety is residing as tenant in the given address and that the surety has not provided any permanent address on record. "In these circumstances, it is also difficult to presume that the surety has control over the accused and would be able to secure his presence in the court when required. The surety bond is not satisfactory. The accused is directed to produce fresh surety on next date. The existing bond are extended till next date," the court said while posting the matter for further hearing on December 19.

A mahila court in Coimbatore on Wednesday sentenced a 70-year-old manager of a church to three years imprisonment for harassing a woman. The court slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on him.

Madhya Pradesh Congress will raise the issue of sexual harassment of women employees in a LED and tube lights manufacturing plant in the assembly during the winter session. Senior Congress MLA from Bhind, Dr Govind Singh, told reporters here on Wednesday that young women employees in the factory located in Malanpur are allegedly subjected to discrimination, mental torture and sexual harassment.

After a woman employee of Nahar Spinning Mills at Mandideep filed a complaint of sexual harassment with State Women's Commission (SWC) against senior officials of management recently, the commission on Wednesday received a similar complaint. This time from a woman employee of Madhya Pradesh State Senior Citizens Welfare Commission, Bhopal, about an incident, which took place in 2013.

Twelve years after sexual harassment charges were levelled against Dr Kulvindersingh Banga, a senior doctor of Nair Hospital Dental College, the Bombay high court has cleared him of all charges. A division bench of Justice Anoop Mohta and Justice Amjad Sayed dismissed a petition filed by a female doctor and colleague, who had sought action against Dr Banga on charges of sexual harassment and challenged the order of departmental inquiries that had exonerated him. The court also paved the way for Dr Banga's promotion and directed the BMC to issue the order appointing him as head of department of conservative dentistry.

The Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) board will decide on the next steps on the basis of the committee's findings in the alleged sexual harassment of a female employee by a senior company official. A statement from Cyrus Mistry's office said the employee referred to did approach Mistry and informed him she had experienced unwelcome behaviour by a senior Indian Hotels Company Ltd employee. His office added that Mistry was very upset as this was absolutely against his belief of a safe work environment and he also set aside time to meet with her and assured her that the Tata Group stands fully committed to support her……….Post this, Mistry also instructed a review of the implementation of POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) policy and practices across Tata Group companies. Representatives from various Tata companies, the Group Ethics Office, Group Legal and Group HR were also included in this exercise to ensure the highest standards and values are protected, including providing a safe work environment for all Tata Group employees.

The women and child development ministry has decided to establish a secure electronic platform to enable woman employees to file workplace-related sexual harassment complaints with the department concerned. This is seen as an attempt to have a transparent system that will also ensure monitoring of the redressal process. The WCD ministry has also decided to set up an interministerial committee headed by a senior official to review the progress of disposal of complaints. The decisions were taken at a review meeting on Wednesday on implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal), Act, 2013, with Maneka Gandhi in the chair.Maneka expressed concern that complaints were not being handled in a timely and sensitive manner. She said harassment in many cases continued over a period of time and it was only after it became unbearable that a wo man complained.

The Director of Mysuru's Central Institute of Indian Languages is on the run after a lady professor accused him of sexual harassment. The woman professor has alleged director Avadesh Kumar Mishra made several phone calls to her and abused her. She had earlier filed a complaint with the National Commission for Women which was forwarded to Mysuru Police. She is now employed at the CCIL in Assam.

In a PIL filed by Meera Mishra against alleged sexual harassment and exploitation of women radio presenters at All India Radio (AIR) claimed that one of the RJs, who had filed a complaint of sexual harassment against a duty officer, had been removed from her job. The Director General (DG) of AIR in an affidavit stated that from time to time, the organisation has been taking steps to ensure that full security was provided to all the female staff. AIR, denied the allegations against it that the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) was not functioning."The present writ petition in the garb of public interest litigation is a misuse of the process of law. The issue raised is purely a service dispute between the department and an individual and no public interest is involved. AIR respects and values the contribution of women serving the organisation either in permanent capacity or as casual artistes. In the present case, it is alleged that women casual presenters are harassed and their voice for justice remains unheard. However, the same is not true," AIR said.

Apart from a gradual increase in the number of complaints in recent years, the university has been at the centre of controversy recently with complaints and FIRs being lodged against JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) office bearers, including its president. The report was submitted to the University Grants Commission (UGC) recently. In 2014-15, the university had received 26 sexual harassment complaints and in 2013-14, the number was 25. According to the 2015-16 annual report of Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment, a central body which deals with complaints of this nature from all university departments, 42 complaints were received between January, 2015 and March, 2016.

It is the duty of every company to ensure that proper safeguards are provided to protect women from sexual and other harassment at work, said the Bombay high court. "It's about time that every organization makes a list of dos and don'ts for male employees vis-a-vis their conduct towards women colleagues," said a bench, headed by Justice V M Kanade. It declined to enhance punishment to an officer of a government undertaking, who was given major penalty of being reduced to a lower scale by two stages and transferred to Chennai. The bench said sexual misconduct cannot be viewed casually and must be dealt with firmly. "Chauvinist attitudes must change. General attitude of men in the country hasn't changed like in the West," said Justice Kanade. The court said there should be an in-built internal mechanism so that instances of harassment can be conveyed confidentially to a senior woman officer. "Internal committees should be constituted to ensure that such instances are nipped at the inception itself." The bench said it's "necessary to create awareness of the vulnerability of women to all employees" and added that while Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act was passed in 2013, most firms haven't set up complaints panels and must do so expeditiously.

Sexual harassment cases have risen among Nifty 50 companies with two-thirds of them disclosing a total 525 complaints in the year ended March, an increase of 26% over the previous year. Wipro tops the list with 111 cases, followed by ICICI Bank with 87 and Infosys with 62. Information technology and banking companies, which typically employ more women than others, constitute over 80% of the total. This is the second year that companies have disclosed the data in their annual reports to comply with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. “This statistic should be an eye-opener for companies which are in denial mode on the incidence of sexual harassment in Indian workplaces,” said Vishal Kedia, founder of Complykaro Services, an adviser on the matter.

The northeastern state of Sikkim has the best working conditions for women, whereas the national capital has the worst, according to a report by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a top American think tank, and Nathan Associates. Sikkim tops the list with a score of 29.5, while Delhi received just 8.5. The states were ranked according to four main factors: Legal restrictions on women's working hours in factories, retail, and the IT industry; the responsiveness of the state's criminal justice system to crimes affecting working women, such as sexual harassment; the number of women workers in the state as a percentage of total workers; and the number of incentives the state's start-up and industrial policies offer women entrepreneurs.

A senior officer, who was under a cloud due to a false sexual harassment complaint lodged by a junior officer, is gaining sympathy and support from various social organizations in Belagavi. With the complaint now proved false, the officer, TB Majjagi, says he suffered mental torture and social stigma for two years, and is contemplating filing a criminal defamation case.

TERI has ended its last major association with RK Pachauri who has been facing sexual harassment charges with former finance secretary Ashok Chawla replacing him as the chancellor of the university. The announcement of Mr Chawla replacing Pachauri was conveyed to the students of the university today by its pro vice chancellor Rajiv Seth. Earlier named as the chairman of TERI, Mr Chawla will replace Pachauri who had proceeded on leave after communicating that he will skip the institution's convocation in March after a group of students refused to receive degrees from him. Asked whether Pachauri's association with TERI and its university has ended, Seth confirmed the development to PTI saying "Yes".

At least 52 per cent of women in the UK face sexual harassment at their work place and a majority admit to not reporting it, a new study released in London today has found. A survey of 1,500 women found a third had been subjected to unwelcome jokes and a quarter experienced unwanted touching, researchers from the UK's Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Everyday Sexism Project found. Around one in eight women reported unwanted sexual touching of their body or attempts to kiss them at work, which the report's authors point out would be considered sexual assault under UK law.

Former TERI chief RK Pachauri, accused in a sexual harassment case, was today once again allowed to travel abroad by a Delhi court. Mr Pachauri, who is currently on bail, was granted permission by Metropolitan Magistrate Shivani Chauhan to travel to USA, Mexico, China and Kazhakstan up to September 27 to attend meetings and conferences. The court allowed the application filed by Mr Pachauri, through his counsel Ashish Dixit, noting that he has been allowed to travel abroad on earlier occasions too and asked him to file a copy of his travel tickets and intimate the court after his return or any changes in his travel itinerary.

An RTI query has revealed that 32 sexual harassment complaints were registered in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation every year on an average since 2013. So far, 17 such cases have been registered in 2016. The data was provided by BMC’s Public Information Officer and Administrative Officer Rekha Kale to RTI activist Anil Galgali. Mr. Galgali said, “The data provided by the Complaints Committee set up for the purpose under the Savitribai Phule Women’s Development Centre exhibits an intolerable level of such complaints. There were 34 complaints in 2013, 32 in 2014 and 31 in 2015. What is alarming is the refusal of the civic body, which claims to have disposed of all complaints registered in the past three years, to provide data on implementation of orders of the vigilance bodies.”

Women employees who have complained of sexual harassment can get three months leave during the pendency of inquiry, Union minister Jitendra Singh informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The government does not maintain any centralised data on the number of sexual harassment complaints, he said. Section 12 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 provides for grant of leave up to three months to an aggrieved woman employee during the pendency of inquiry in to her case, he said in a written reply.

Last month, Tata Motors announced its decision to increase the number of women employees on the shop floor from 6% to 20% within two years. Both private players as well as the government are making efforts to encourage more Indian women to work across sectors. A recent change in law allows women to work night shifts in many sectors. These are certainly welcome efforts towards breaking the glass ceiling. But, is the quest for removing the gender gap in the workforce also reflected in terms of providing a dignified and safer working environment to women? Mint has looked at the pattern of sexual harassment complaints in some of India’s biggest companies to answer this question. The analysis is based on information provided in 237 Business Responsibility Reports (BRR) of 79 companies for the years 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15. BRRs are mandated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India and, among other things, require disclosure on the number of women employees and the number of sexual harassment complaints since 2012-13.

The 90-day paid leave granted to a victim of sexual harassment at workplace comes as a major relief to many women employees in the government. Though this provision has been framed under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013, it came into force recently as the Department of Personnel and Training incorporated it in the Central Civil Services (leave) Rules, 1972. Women activists term the paid leave as a welcome move aimed at providing solace to victims to a certain extent and help them recoup before they restart their professional life.

In a unique punishment, annual increments of a deputy Legal Advisor in Enforcement Directorate have been ordered to be stopped for a period of three years for allegedly sexually harassing a woman employee in the agency.
The order was issued on June 21 by the Competent Disciplinary Authority (CDA) under the Ministry of Finance.

Women garment workers recounted ordeals of sexual harassment including physical advances, demands for sexual favours and sexual remarks made by male supervisors on the shop floor. Perpetrators promised preferential treatment for sexual favours, and threatened women workers with repercussions if they refused their advances. Regular audits conducted by brands have failed to adequately address these issues, pointing to the inadequacy of company auditing processes. Testimonies of workers reveal that they are tutored and forced to suppress facts at the time of audits.