SC orders security to woman alleging sexual harassment

The Supreme Court has asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to provide security to a woman employee who feared for her life after filing a sexual harassment complaint against her superiors in the health department.

She alleged she was being threatened that she would be killed and her death would be labelled as one of “terrorist” violence if she continued to pursue her complaint.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna issued notice to the state government on her plea also seeking a CBI probe into her complaint.

Advocate Wills Mathews, appearing for the petitioner, sought a direction to provide her security at her residence. The woman has expressed her readiness to record her statement in Delhi and undergo any scientific tests to ascertain the veracity of her charges.

The woman claimed she was denied support from the police at the time of investigation and her right for a “fair trial” was trampled, though she was repeatedly subjected to sexual harassment. So far her statement was not recorded in the courts of law in connection with the complaint filed on June 05, 2014 and instead she was made to face a defamation complaint filed by the accused officers.

After hearing her plea, the court sought a response from the state government and directed, “The petitioner to be provided with adequate police protection as may be considered necessary by the concerned authority upon being approached”.