Price of Speaking Up? Husband of Delhi Sexual Harassment Complainant Arrested

New Delhi: The husband of a 32-year-old woman from New Delhi’s Devli region, who had alleged sexual harassment by a practising doctor in the same area, has been arrested. The woman, after having struggled to get her complaint registered, has alleged that she was facing enormous pressure to withdraw the complaint, and in the latest attempt, her husband was arrested from Aligarh and has been lodged in the Neb Sarai police station on charges of fraud with respect to his educational qualifications.

Speaking to NewsClick, the complainant said: “We have been facing pressure from the first day when we attempted to lodge a complaint. Now, my husband has been arrested on December 26, from Aligarh and is being kept in the jail of Neb Sarai police station.”

The complainant also alleged that her husband was being ill-treated in the police station and even accused the police of “stripping him naked”.

She also alleged that he was beaten up in police custody. “I want to fight my case and not give up. However, the pressure is enormous, I am having to leave my three-month-old daughter and run from pillar to post for justice.”

She also pointed out that the Investigating Officer (IO) in her husband’s case and the sexual harassment complaint was the same--Naresh Kumar. “This clearly reflects conflict of interest, which is coming in the way of me getting justice,” she added.

The family said it was currently trying to get bail for the husband of the complainant and was seeking support from the National Commission of Women.

Earlier, NewsClick had reported that the harassment complaint of the woman was not registered and she was forced to withdraw her complaint by the Neb Sarai Station House Office Naresh Solanki. It may be noted that Solanki had also faced criticism for forcing the complainant in the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi sexual harassment case to apologise to his wife.

In this case, the woman has alleged sexual harassment by one Ashok Gupta, a practicing doctor and owner of the Medi Polyclinic in New Delhi’s Devli region. Reportedly, Gupta has also harassed several patients on the pretext of medical examinations, the woman alleged. The complainant has accused Gupta of barging into her room while she was feeding her baby daughter and alleged that he then proceeded to forcefully touch her inappropriately.

Initially, the woman had attempted to file a case on September 30 on the day of the incident. Describing her ordeal, she said, “Initially, my husband had gone to the police station to register a FIR. After refusing to lodge the complaint, the police later came to our doorstep stating that they wanted to take our statement. We were taken to the Neb Sarai police station and no statement was recorded, instead I was told to withdraw the case. Along with my three-month-old child, my husband and I were kept in the police station until 10 in the night on the same day. We were released only when we withdrew our complaint.”

Also Read: SHO Allegedly Pressurised Sexual Harassment Victim to Withdraw Complaint