A 52 year old Chief Finance Officer (CFO) has been booked by the Hadapsar police for sexually harassing a woman colleague (Accounts Manager) since 2016. In her complaint, the aggrieved lady has stated that the CFO would often detain her till late night under the garb of official work and would also give her dirty looks and pass lewd remarks. When she filed a complaint with the firm’s ICC, no corrective or penal action was taken against the harasser. On the contrary she was terminated from her services. Thereafter she filed an FIR with the police.

A 52 year old Chief Finance Officer (CFO) has been booked by the Hadapsar police for sexually harassing a woman colleague (Accounts Manager) since 2016. In her complaint, the aggrieved lady has stated that the CFO would often detain her till late night under the garb of official work and would also give her dirty looks and pass lewd remarks. When she filed a complaint with the firm’s ICC, no corrective or penal action was taken against the harasser. On the contrary she was terminated from her services. Thereafter she filed an FIR with the police.

The General Court Martial (‘GCM’) has dismissed a serving Major General for sexually harassing a young woman officer. The Major General has been charged under Section 69 (Civil offences) of the Army Act, 1950 along with Section 354 (outraging modesty of a woman by criminal force or assault) and 354A (Sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment) of the IPC. The concerned Officer, however, has denied the allegations and has called it a conspiracy against him by the Army’s factional feud at the top level. He proposes to appeal against the order of the GCM.

In a landmark move, The Delhi High Court has affirmed the application of Section 354A (Sexual Harassment) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 to transgender victims. A transgender student of the Delhi University had approached the Court after the Police refused to lodge a sexual harassment case against one of her male classmates citing ‘lack of an appropriate penal section’. The Police had stated that Section 354 was applicable only in respect of a woman and had no mention of any other gender. The Division Bench hearing the matter interpreted section 354A of the Indian Penal Code as ‘gender neutral’, subsequent to the Supreme Court’s National Legal Services Authority of India’s verdict. The Delhi Police has now informed the Court that they have taken cognizance of the matter & lodged a complaint against the accused. The Police has also affirmed that the fundamental rights granted under the Constitution of India will be equally applicable to transgenders.

An IIT-Roorkee research student has alleged her supervisor of having both sexually and mentally harassed her to the extent of throwing casteist comments. She had approached the dean and the director of the institute who went almost silent about it and merely forwarded her complaint to the women’s cell whereby it was communicated to her that her immediate supervisor would be changed but no penal action would be taken against him. The supervisor was replaced by one who had a long time repute of touching women inappropriately. So, she again approached for a change of the supervisor and had further filed a formal complaint with the Haridwar police. Her complaint was followed by two more complaints, one by a student researcher while the other by a foreign lecturer who had alleged of having been sexually harassed by three IIT-R professors back in 2015. The police have formed a 3-member team and probing into the matter. She has also filed a complaint with the admin department of the institute which is also investigating the matter.

The Assistant Director of the All India Radio Shahdol station has been demoted and transferred after having been found guilty of sexually harassing nine women employees. A formal complaint to this effect was filed with the AIR on 12th November by the office-bearers of the All India Radio Casual Announcer and Comperes Union. The National Commission for Women (NCW) is a statement has said that the accused has been heftily penalised by the appropriate authority with: i) Pay cut by two stages for one year ii) No increment for one year

The Public Service Broadcaster, Prasar Bharti in its reply to NCW has confirmed that certain preventive measures against sexual or like harassments have been initiated including:

i) Installation of CCTV cameras at vantage points; ii) Recruiting Women Programme Executives as Station-in-charge; iii) Providing transport facility to women employees during odd hours; iv) Asking its centers to send quarterly reports on sexual harassments and the inquiry procedure

Further, on November 9, the Women & Child Development Minister Ms. Maneka Gandhi wrote to the Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to ensure that a “sensitive and fair system” is put in place at the state-owned AIR to address sexual harassment complaints.