Judge accused of sexual harassment

By Our Staff Correspondent

JAIPUR, AUG. 11. In a bizarre case, a young woman official of the district court of Jhalawar in South Rajasthan today accused the District Judge of sexually harassing and victimising her continuously for one year. The woman employee was allegedly tortured in police custody and a false case was registered against her.

Ms. Sandhya Bharadwaj - who was working as a lower division clerk in the Jhalawar district court before her transfer to Kota recently - claimed at a Press conference here that the Jhalawar District Judge, Mr. Ashok Sharma, sexually harassed her and victimised her by transferring her to different courts for eight times during the past one year.

When she refused to respond positively to the judge's alleged overtures, Ms. Bharadwaj was implicated in a false case stating that she had illicit relations with a colleague. Police allegedly made a swoop at her residence on February 12 last and forcibly took her, alongwith her son and the colleague, to the police station, she said.

She said the local Circle Inspector and a sub-inspector tortured her in custody and took her to the District Judge, who allegedly threatened her with dire consequences. After her medical examination, a false case under Section 109 of the Criminal Procedure Code was slapped on her.

Several women's organisations and the civil rights unions which had jointly held the Press conference, alleged that police were hand-in- glove with the District Judge and had acted as his ``private army'' to settle score with the hapless woman employee.

The organisations - including the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and Mahila Atyachar Virodhi Jan Andolan - demanded suspension of the District Judge and institution of an inquiry into the case.

In addition to the demand for suspension and registration of criminal cases against the police officials guilty of torturing Ms. Bharadwaj, the organisations said the Rajasthan High Court should also appoint committees to check sexual harassment of women in the subordinate courts in accordance with a judgment of the Supreme Court.

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Section  : Other States
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