The news of women in India suffering from sexual harassment is nothing new in a very unfortunate way.
Reports, studies and surveys have all been conducted about the high rate of sexual harassment and assault that Indian women go through every day with many claiming that the legal hoops they have to go through to get any justice are not worth even making the reports against the perpetrators in the first place.
But it is furthermore concerning in light of the letter a female judge wrote to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud where she asked him for permission to “end her life” because of the lack of action taken against the accused.
What Did The Female Judge Say?
On Thursday, a two-page letter from a female civil judge in Uttar Pradesh (UP) went viral where she wrote to CJI D.Y. Chandrachud seeking permission to end her life in a dignified manner.
The reason for this is the trauma she has gone through while trying to move her sexual harassment complaint against a district judge in the state judiciary and his associates while she was posted in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh.
She claimed that the Prevention Of Women From Sexual Harassment (POSH) Act, 2013, “a big lie” as her allegations against the accused “saw little headway in over a year” and the biggest blow came when the Supreme Court apparently “dismissed within eight seconds” her petition asking for action to be taken against the accused.
In her letter, she wrote “I have been sexually harassed by one particular district judge and his associates. I was told to meet the district judge at night. I complained to the Honourable Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court and the administrative judge (High Court judge) in 2022. No action has been taken till date. No one even bothered to ask me ‘What happened, why are you distressed’.”
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She started the letter with the distressing line “I write this in extreme Pain and Despair. This letter has no purpose other than to tell my story and a prayer that my eldermost guardian (CJI) permits me to end my life.”
She further wrote “I joined the Judicial Service with much enthusiasm and the belief that I would dispense Justice to the common folk. What did I know that I’ll be soon rendered a beggar for Justice on every door that I go.
In the short time of my service I have had the rare Honour of being abused (the dreaded Hindi mother curse word) on Dias in open court. I have been sexually harassed to the very limit. I have been treated like utter garbage. I feel like an unwanted insect. And I hoped to provide justice to others. What Naive me!”
“I wish to tell all the working women in India: Learn to live with sexual harassment. It’s a truth of our lives. The POSH ACT is a big wholesome lie told to us. No one listens, no one bothers. If u complaint, you will be tortured. Be submissive.”
She talked about the Supreme Court too writing “And when I mean no one listens, that includes the Supreme Court. You will get 8 Seconds of hearing, an insult and a threat to impose costs. You will be pushed to commit suicide. And if you are lucky (unlike me) your first attempt at suicide will be successful.
If any of the women think that you’ll fight against the system, let me tell you, I couldn’t. And I am JUDGE. I could not even a muster a fair enquiry for myself, Let alone JUSTICE. I advise all women to learn to be a toy, or a non-living thing.”
CJI Chandrachud has now asked for a status update from the Allahabad High Court administration about the sexual harassment allegation case pointed out by the female judge.
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: The Indian Express, India Today, Livemint
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This post is tagged under: Female Judge, UP judge, UP judge letter, UP judge arpita sahu, UP judge letter to cji, UP judge news, UP judge cji, UP judge case, UP judge writes to cji, UP judge viral letter
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