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RISING STORIES
By TK
15 February, 2019
sexual harassment
All she was looking for some help for a noble cause, and all that she could get was the arrogant, cocky, lecherous behavior of the official real estate manager of the Bearys Group. His eyes scanned her from head to toe even as he kept talking to her in the rudest manner possible. Although we talk about women empowerment, betterment and safety of women, here was a man who was making a lady utterly uncomfortable with his looks. Was it that difficult to talk to a lady straight faced? It does not matter whether it was easy or not, all that mattered was a lady had approached him, and how could he have let her go without giving her a taste of his shamelessness, his lust, his cockiness. He was not even afraid of the police, saying that the ‘police was nothing but pawns in his pocket and that they would not be able to do anything to him’. Such is the attitude and the condition of the society we live in, and we call ourselves civilized. But this was just the beginning. What lay ahead was a path filled with such lecherous people, who would not leave a single opportunity to trouble and to malign the lady's image.
Not able to withstand this outrageous behavior, she decided to talk to the unofficial estate manager, who also happens to be her neighbor and owns maximum number of flats in the complex, Unfortunately, his behavior was arrogant and rude as well. It was eventually becoming clearer, that this was not a behavior limited to a single person, but a common trend with the people in power in the Beary's Lakeside apartment complex. The idea of a woman trying to take the lead, is not very well taken in our society even today, and in this case, it was particularly evident. This unofficial estate manager, clearly an aide of the Beary's, proved himself to be a man with no principles in life. Hearranges a meeting of her and her husband with the official society manager in his presence. Initially what appeared to be a settlement meeting, turned out to be another bait which just spoke volumes about the institutional intention to harass and malign her even further. This meeting, which should have taken place in a proper office location, was instead arranged in an empty flat,. She felt like she was in a pack of wolves hungrily looking at their prey. She burst out in tears. The only support she had at this time was her husband’s presence.
It was slowly taking the shape of an organized crime, where all these men were flocking together to harass the lady. The intent was clear, they did not want to lose their state of dominance. It was more towards, ‘let us show you who the boss is’. It is worth mentioning that this is not the only case where these men have tried to outrage the modesty of a woman. Being an expat community, people tend to come and go in and out of the society. Everyone, starting from the estate manager, the society manager to the reception manager, all close aides of the Beary's (the complex owners), have made it a habit to slut-shame and to harass many more woman who stay here. Is this all possible without any cooperation from the complex owners? The answer is no. There is a heavy support from the Beary's to all these men who constantly engage in these lewd actions. It should be no wonder then, that the Beary’s top rank are also of the same group and same nature. “These people are a shame to the society at large, they flout the Indian laws like Vishakha guidelines (which covers prevention of sexual harassment in workplaces likeresident complexes) openly, and the authorities too ignore it because of the money power they have,” she said
Not only this but ‘these goons as they can be rightly called’, threatened her with dire consequences if she continues to do what she is doing. But being a war hero's daughter, she was a tough one to crack. She continued her work and continued to write on various platforms about the harassment she was going through. The pain, the agony she has been through and is going through currently, can only be felt by her. So much so, that these men joined along with a few others, would constantly keep a watch on her moves. Every time she came down for a walk in the park, or for any other work, she would have to be a victim of the hungry, lewd, vulgar, ever prying eyes of these men would follow her throughout. The feeling of constantly being watched in an unapproved sleezy manner, the filthy, vulgar, atrocious actions and gestures they made at her, was getting out of hand in every way possible. It increased to such an extent, that she stopped going out of her apartment. The fear of hostility, the fear of vulgarity, the fear of lewdness was forcefully fed in her head. And all this for what, for working for some noble causes or for not being able to bear the feeling of a woman standing up for her rights. Imagine a person who loves going out, who loves working for her community and people, not being able to step out of her house anymore because of the filthiness, the vulgarity she would have to face. Would you ever like something like this happening to you?
Even the Beary's, who was the recipient of many of her emails and who could have put an end to all this by just a phone call or a personal interaction, chose not to do so, and let continue what was going on. Tactical approval as it may be called, gave them more courage, and the atrocities went on to increase, this time joined by a couple more men. They even tried to get her evicted from the society based on some fabricated affidavit which they submitted to her landlord. They started isolating her and once her domestic house-help was barred from entering the society. A lady who is in stage 4 of heart disease, still struggling to do her best for the society, is this the behavior we meet out to her? Do you approve of this behavior? Strangely, none of the society members came forward to her support. Was it so difficult to stand up to a bunch of 5 - 6 men and stop their atrocities, stop their harassment?
Despite all of this, she continued to fight against all of these men and their actions and activities. Feeling that she has no other option left, she met with the state police commissioner and was finally able to file an FIR against all the perpetrators. The men were summoned and warnings were given. Still, they managed to incite mass hostility towards her a week later, that too on a day no other than Republic Day, the occasion to uphold and celebrate our Constitution, which grants equality for all. But again, the question remains, given the current day and time, where money speaks and it is power in the most liquid state, what is the guarantee that these men will face the consequences of what they have been doing? Will they face the consequences of their institutional failure to prevent sexual harassment in their workplace? Will they face the consequences for the years of mental trauma and agony she has gone through? For the shame and insults, she had to bear for a crime no other than being a woman in our progressive 21st century society.
Sadly, this is not the only case of this nature. Such cases are on the rise in the country, where women are not even safe inside their homes. The courage and the audacity of such criminals have gone up to such an extent, that they are now barging inside people’s homes and sexually abusing them.
I am extremely appalled and disgusted with what this lady had to go through. I want to question the government, wasn’t ‘Beti Bachao about the safety and well being of Women’ one of your prime agenda’s. Yes, of course, you have created many laws on these lines, but who is supposed to check the implementation of those laws. Isn’t the government or government officials responsible to check the implementation of the laws that are created? We need more vigilant people in the ministries who would connect with other authorities and the public on a more frequent basis and take such issues to the forefront without any personal interest.
And for the men of the country, what are we waiting for? How do such people get away with such crimes? Is it so difficult to stand up to a group of 5 or 6 men and put an end to their harassment? What are we waiting for? If such incidents do not make our blood boil, trust me nothing will. Are we waiting for something like this to happen to someone close to us, someone of our family? Let us unite forces and finish this menace once and for all, so that no other woman, no other girl, no other child has to become the victim of such horrific crimes. If we do not act now, soon it is going to be too late to act. Let us not make this a battle of the sexes, lets work together hand in hand and bring such culprits to the forefront and report them to the authorities.
And for the ladies of our country, it is high time to act. It is no longer an individual battle. Look at the audacity of the men involved in this case.. These incidents are slowly taking the shape of organized crimes. It is time for all of us to unite together and ask questions, challenge the government, ensure the safety of our fellow beings. How many more such incidents do we need for the authorities, for the government to take notice and form fast track courts, formulate correct laws and punish the offenders.
Let us all come together, not only for the support of this lady but also for a better future of all women in our society. Let us ensure that no such case is ever taken lightly, no such case goes unreported, no such victim feels that they are alone in this fight against discrimination.
India is a developing country, and as rightly said by someone, there is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women. So, let’s work towards creating a more safe and secure environment for us, let us ensure that when women step outside their homes, they feel safe and secure in doing whatever they want to do.
This is a wakeup call for all of us, for if we do not wake up now, we will not wake up ever.
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