IAS Officer Shares Story Of Being Harassed In Court. Shall We Give Up On The Nation Now?

The incident was shared by Riju Bafna on her Facebook profile.

 

There has been so much said about women harassment in India that it has become a regular news. You understand regular news, don’t you? The kind of news that doesn’t affect you anymore because it is so common that we have made our peace with it. And that’s why things never change.

In the line of lakhs of women mistreated in this country, enters Riju Bafna. She is no ordinary woman you see, she is an IAS officer with a masters degree in economics from the Delhi School of Economics. A few days back she started receiving lewd messages from an Aayogmitra from MP Human Rights Commission, named Santosh Chaubey.

She filed an FIR against him and as a result he was removed from the position. Furthermore, a criminal case is being pursued against him for the same. However, when Riju went to the court to give her statement in front of the Judicial Magistrate, something unexpected happened.

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When she was asked to give her statement, she requested that the judicial magistrate asked others to leave as she was uncomfortable giving her statement in front of all the crowd present there.

At this, one of the advocates present there, named Lalit Sharma created a huge scene by yelling at Riju in front of everyone. He said, “How dare you suggest me to leave, I am an advocate here and you might be an officer in your office but not in the Court.”

To this, she politely replied by telling him that she is making the request not as an officer but as a woman entitled to that right by the laws. After several minutes of baseless arguments, he eventually left after yelling at her.

Riju asked the Judicial Magistrate that in case of a woman giving her statement under a sexual harassment case, the presence of crowd in the vicinity should be monitored. To which, he curtly replied, “You are young and that’s why demanding such things.”

[cjtoolbox name=’Riju Bafna’ ] [/cjtoolbox]

 

What could she expect from the general public when such a statement comes from the judiciary of our nation. There are so many misogynists out there that every step we tread in this nation should either be well guarded or be strong enough to break through every insult that is thrown at us.

If an IAS officer can be treated this way in front the judiciary, we better get prepared for whatever might come our way.

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