Court orders further probe into sexual harassment complaint against IIM-Rohtak’s director
N.K. Singhal, counsel for the complainant, said they had moved an application under section 173 (8) CrPC for further investigation after the police filed a closure report while giving favour to IIM-Rohtak’s director
: A local court has directed the police here to further investigate the complaint of a former female assistant professor of IIM-Rohtak, alleging sexual harassment by the institute’s director Dheeraj Sharma.
First class judicial magistrate Aditya Singh Yadav on September 6 directed the investigating officer to further investigate the matter so as to bring the truth of allegation levelled by the complainant in her original complaint on the basis of which an FIR was lodged in 2018 under sections 354 and 354A of Indian penal code (IPC) against Sharma.
The court passed the order while hearing an application moved by the complainant under section 173 (8) CrPC for further investigation.
N.K. Singhal, counsel for the complainant, said they had moved an application under section 173 (8) CrPC for further investigation after the police filed a closure report while giving favour to the accused.
“The police officials filed cancellation report on the basis of statements of persons who were not eyewitnesses and those persons were under the immediate influence of the accused,” Sighal said, giving details of their submission in the court.
“We had submitted before the court that the police officials acted as per the desire of accused Dheeraj Sharma and under his instructions, the police officials derailed the entire investigation. Instead of investigating the offence, the police officials viewed the complainant with suspicion and made no efforts to take the copy of the complaint dated 25.03.2018 filed by the complainant as well as complete papers of the inquiry which was conducted by the accused Dheeraj Sharma to save himself,” he said.
Singhal, in the submission before court, said that the police officials made no efforts to recover the CCTV footage of the concerned areas and “falsely mentioned in the zimni no. 6 that the complainant has not mentioned about her sexual harassment in CWP No. 14811 of 2018 filed by complainant against her termination before the Hon’ble High Court. However, the complainant had duly mentioned in para no. 5 to 7, 12 of the writ petition filed by the Hon’ble High Court about her sexual harassment at the end of Dheeraj Sharma.”
Singhal said the accused projected the complainant as an extremely poor faculty member and her record below average.
“The complainant provided proofs to the police regarding her excellent credentials as a faculty member of the institute, but the police ignored the same as they were under the influence of the accused,” he said.
The case date backs to 2018 when Rohtak’s women police station booked Sharma on charges of assault to outrage the modesty of a woman and making sexually coloured remarks after the former assistant professor filed a complaint against him.
The woman, in her complaint, alleged that Sharma began sexually harassing her soon after her appointment to the post of assistant professor on September 1, 2017 on a probation of three years.
“A month after I lodged a complaint against Sharma, I was dismissed from service on May 10. Sharma would make indecent remarks on my private life, looks and clothes. He would ask me out for evening strolls and even groped me inside my cabin on one occasion,” she stated in the FIR, which was mentioned by her counsel in the court for seeking further investigation.
The former IIM employee, in her complaint, said she started maintaining distance from the director after a series of such traumatised incidents.
According to the FIR, the director would insult her and inflict mental agony on her at the slightest opportunity and tried sending her messages through others to resolve the matter.
Despite repeated attempts, IIM Director Dheeraj Sharma and institute’s official spokesperson could not be reached for a comment. ENDS