Haryana university staff booked for coercing menstruation proof from sanitation workers
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Rohtak: Three staff members of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) in Haryana have been charged after female sanitation workers accused them of forcing them to take photographs of their private parts and sanitary pads as proof of menstruation, PTI reported on Saturday.
The incident reportedly took place on October 26, just hours before Haryana Governor Ashim Kumar Ghosh was due to visit the university campus. According to The Indian Express, an FIR was lodged on October 29 at the PGIMS police station against sanitation supervisors Vitender and Vinod Hooda, along with Assistant Registrar Shyam Sunder, following a complaint by four female workers.
According to the complaint, the women were cleaning the sports complex when the supervisors began pressuring them to work faster. “We told them we could not work faster because of the pain from our periods,” the women wrote in their complaint to the university registrar, as quoted by The Indian Express. “The supervisors said: ‘You click photos of your private parts as proof so that the menstrual cycle can be confirmed’.”
Two of the women said they complied under pressure, taking photos inside the washroom. The other two alleged they were abused and threatened with dismissal when they refused, The Indian Express reported.
Station House Officer Roshan Lal told The Indian Express that the accused have been booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for sexual harassment, assault with intent to disrobe, criminal intimidation, and outraging a woman’s modesty. Additional charges under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act may be added depending on the investigation’s findings, Lal told PTI.
Registrar Krishan Kant confirmed receiving the complaint and said an internal inquiry was underway. Those found guilty “will not be spared,” he stated.
The university has suspended the two supervisors, who were employed on contract via the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam Limited, a state-run body that facilitates contractual employment through an online portal, PTI reported. MDU said it would not tolerate any breach of workplace safety and reiterated that the dignity of women workers was of paramount importance, The Indian Express reported.