IAS officer shares court ordeals on Facebook

A trainee IAS officer, who has filed a case of alleged sexual harassment against an 'Aayogmitra' of MP Human Rights Commission, shared on Facebook the ordeal she went through while recording her statement in a local court.

The trainee IAS officer in her Facebook status posted on Saturday, said, "I am posting this message to share my experience with judiciary on a sexual harassment case filed by me."

In the post, the officer alleged, "Santosh Chaubey, Aayogmitra of MP Human Rights Commission was sending me indecent messages last week. I had filed an FIR against him and criminal action is being pursued against him. He was immediately removed from his job, thanks to the swift action by my Collector, Bharat Yadav."

The trainee officer had registered an FIR against the accused on July 26, following which her statement was recorded on August 1. The court will forward the statement to police.

Registering her anguish over her ordeal, she said, "I went to give my statement to the Judicial Magistrate. While I was giving my statement, an advocate named Lalit Sharma was standing next, overhearing my statement, along with others in the court."

"I asked the judicial magistrate to ask others to leave as I was uncomfortable giving my statement in front of so many people. On saying this, Lalit Sharma started shouting at me, saying, 'How dare you suggest me to leave, I am an advocate here and you might be an officer in your office but not in the Court'," she further alleged.

"I told him that the privacy I am demanding is not as an IAS officer but as a woman and laws provide me with that. He started arguing and eventually left."

"Such is the state of affairs for women in this country. When I said to Judicial Magistrate that he should be careful of presence of other people when a woman is giving statement under sexual harassment case, he said that you are young and that's why demanding such things," the post alleged.

"Idiots are lined up at every step and people are highly insensitive towards our sufferings. If you are born in this country, better prepare yourself for struggle at every step.

"If you are born in this country, better prepare yourself for struggle at every step," the officer said in the post, portions of which she edited later to remove the line, "I can only pray that no woman is born in this country".

She, however, apologised for her remark and wrote in a fresh post yesterday, "I wrote that line in the spur of moment and I regret blaming the country for the fault of individuals."

"As civil servants, we must focus on how the institutions of the state should become more humane and sympathetic to the common people they serve and to strive for changes in the system that will facilitate better, Honourable and dignified interaction with the state for every citizen," she further wrote in the second post.

Meanwhile, senior advocate Sharma who has been practising in the district court for the last 27 years, clarified that he only asked the officer to behave as per the dignity of the court and maintain silence and he did not disrespect her.

"I had just asked the officer to behave as per the dignity of the court and not disrespected her," Sharma told PTI.

The District Bar Association in this connection has sent a memorandum to district judge, district collector and district Superintendent of Police, citing that the officer's behaviour was not in accordance with the dignity of the court.