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Woman executive alleges sexual harassment by two senior colleagues
Gurugram: A 32-year-old resident of Sohna Road, who used work as a legal counsellor with a sports company, has accused two of her senior colleagues of sexually
Gurugram: A 32-year-old resident of Sohna Road, who used work as a legal counsellor with a sports company, has accused two of her senior colleagues of sexually and mentally harassing her for the past two years, the police said on Saturday. The victim is a resident of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and lived in the city for the last 10 years. She filed the police complaint on Friday.
The police said they received a complaint from the woman, who alleged that her former colleagues made sexually coloured remarks against her and tried to make unwanted physical contact with her on numerous occasions. According to the police, she was employed with the company between November 20, 2017, and January 2019.
Preet Pal Sangwan, the assistant commissioner of police (crime), said the woman had alleged that she did not consider it appropriate to raise the issue with the internal complaints committee (ICC) of her former company as she was new to the office and one of the suspects was a member of ICC. However, she did raise the issue with another senior colleague of the company.
“I had complained against my colleague to his senior but instead of taking appropriate action, he himself started sexually harassing me. I was unable to understand with whom to escalate the matter as I feared to lose my job and jeopardise my career prospects as the seniors are very powerful and influential in the legal fraternity. However, when things got unbearable, I tried to raise the issue with centralised employee survey in May 2018 in the hope that someone from the organisation will reach out to me. However, to my dismay, I did not receive any call or email,” said the victim.
The police said the woman has alleged that both the colleagues were equally responsible for the sexual harassment. “I have been deeply affected by the harassment, so much so that I had to take sleeping pills and consult a doctor. In January, I was forced to resign and leave the office within six hours. Thereafter, I received an email from the company, asking me to share my concerns. Although I raise those issues, no action was taken,” said the woman.
The police said they will undertake a fair and speedy investigation. However, to her utter surprise, the suspects are trying to frame her in a fake forgery case. The woman told police that no action was taken by the company management or the human resources department, said the police. The woman filed a police complaint on Friday.
Company authorities could not be contacted for comment. A case was registered against two persons at the women police station under Section 354 (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code. The police said they are investigating the matter and verifying the facts.
