She was allegedly sexually abused by a colleague in August, which had resulted in miscarriage. When she complained, her seniors, including the railway police commissioner, threatened her with dire consequences, her PIL states.
A woman constable from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) moved the Bombay high court on Thursday to seek implementation of supreme court guidelines for protection of women from sexual harassment at workplaces.
She was allegedly sexually abused by a colleague in August, which had resulted in miscarriage. When she complained, her seniors, including the railway police commissioner, threatened her with dire consequences, her PIL states.
Reshma Shinde, 29, (name changed as she is a victim of sexual assault), who is attached to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway police station, has stated in her petition that on August 18, as the ladies cloakroom was wet and dirty, she went to the computer room to change into her uniform. Soon after, her colleague Santosh Rane entered the room and when she protested, he began talking to her in an abusive manner. The PIL alleges that Rane then sexually harassed her by touching her private parts, and also hurt her neck in the ensuing scuffle.
Shinde, who was two months pregnant, subsequently suffered a miscarriage. Her petition states she immediately reported the incident to the assistant commissioner of police, but no action was taken. The petition adds that she was sent to make a representation before police inspector Rohini Kale on August 22 at Thane railway police station, where Kale threatened her saying that a case will be registered against her. Shinde has also alleged that on September 29, railway police commissioner Tukaram Chavan told her that he may take adverse action against her if she pursues the complaint.
The PIL states that in the landmark Vishakha v/s state of Rajasthan case, the SC had made it mandatory to provide protection to women at work places, and had directed the human rights commissions to set up a complaint committee. "But the Maharashtra human rights commission has not established a committee. The railway police, as well as the MSHRC, have failed to follow the norms," the petition states.
Shinde had also filed a separate petition in the high court a few weeks ago seeking direction for registering a FIR in the case, which resulted in a division bench headed by justice AM Khanwilkar issuing a notice to the state.
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