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A Facebook post on Saturday by IAS officer Riju Bafna, describing her experience in battling sexual harassment and 'judicial sexism', has gone viral with people expressing disgust and dismay over the way women even in powerful positions are being treated.
The post, which slams a Judicial Magistrate for his inappropriate remarks, has forced the Madhya Pradesh government to move the high court with a request for appropriate response.
Bafna, who had filed a sexual harassment case against a member of the state's Human Rights Commission for sending her obscene messages, said in the post: "Idiots are lined up at every step and people are highly insensitive towards our [women's] sufferings. If you are born in this country, better prepare yourself for struggle at every step."
In her post, Bafna recounts that when she went to the court to get her statement recorded in the sexual harassment case, a male lawyer allegedly refused to leave the courtroom, and he began shouting at her when she requested him to leave.
The lawyer, identified as Lalit Sharma, allegedly 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."
The lawyer, identified as Lalit Sharma, allegedly 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."
When Bafna complained about this to the magistrate, she was told, " You are young, which is why you have such expectations. You would get to know the system and courts with time and get done away with such demands.”
Soon after, Bafna filed a representation seeking action against the magistrate and the lawyer, and recounted the incident on her Facebook wall.
Initially, Bafna said in the post: “If you are born in this country, better prepare yourself for struggle at every step.” But later, she went on to tone down her post saying, her comment about women being born in the country came in “the spur of moment and I regret blaming the country for the fault of individuals”.
In another post, she wrote: "I have been overwhelmed by the support from friends, colleagues and well-wishers from across the country. I am also thankful to the media for the extremely sympathetic coverage. Few media people have approached me about my comments on the story.
"To reiterate once again, the issue is not just about me but the general lack of women friendly procedure in such cases. The legislature has provided mandatory in camera proceedings for rape cases; however, there is a need to extend the same to other sexual offences too."
