The Hindu : National : Woman complains of harassment at work spot

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 29, 2004

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National

Woman complains of harassment at work spot

By Kalpana Sharma

MUMBAI, APRIL 28. A woman employee of Sahara Manoranjan, who has requested that her name be withheld, went public today on ``sexual harassment'' at her workplace. With the support of seven women's and human rights organisations in Mumbai, she narrated to the press the string of incidents in the last seven years that finally impelled her to seek justice.

"I tried every means possible to get redressal from the Sahara management," she said. Shortly after her job confirmation five years ago, she said that she began to receive calls in the office asking her to go to a designated place after work if she wanted "a better future." The caller would not identify himself. When she refused to oblige, she was threatened that she would be kidnapped or that acid would be thrown on her.

Asked why she did not complain when this was happening, she said she was afraid of the consequences. She also alleged that in the last five years she had been transferred without reason from one division to another. When she approached a senior woman manager, she was told to speak to her own senior. "But it was this senior person who had been harassing me. How could I talk to him?" she asked.

Things came to a head this year during Holi. On March 5, she said, she was confronted by a group of employees playing Holi as she left the office. Despite requesting them not to throw colour powder at her, one of them did. She confronted him and a tussle followed. She says she went to the police and tried to register a complaint. But they told her to go home and urged her to settle the matter with her employers.

The next day, she was given a showcause notice by the company asking her to explain why she went to police. A committee was formed on March 11 to look into the matter. On March 17, she was told that she had been transferred to Lucknow.

It is at this point that she decided to approach various women's organisations and also complained to the State Women's Commission. However, on April 27, the company terminated her services.

Speaking on behalf of the women's groups, Sandhya Gokhale said: "Sahara Manoranjan has flouted the law that requires it to set up a committee to deal with sexual harassment. No employer can feign ignorance and say they do not know the law or the Supreme Court ruling of August 1997."

Rajiv Bajaj, head of Sahara Samai, expressed surprise at the allegations. He told The Hindu : "This is the first time the issue of sexual harassment has come up." He confirmed that the employee's services had been terminated but said this was because of "gross indiscipline," absenteeism, fighting with people in the organisation and bringing the company into disrepute by going to the police. He said the company had done everything "absolutely legally, in keeping with the labour laws and the Industrial Relations Act."

Mr. Bajaj said the employee had "no business going to the police" when the company has an internal system of dealing with such problems. He claimed that her police complaint made no mention of sexual harassment but said that she was harassed because she was a member of a minority community.

On the demand of women's groups that there should a separate committee to deal with sexual harassment, Mr. Bajaj said that so far there had never been such a complaint and that the existing system within the company was competent to deal with it.

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