Companies need to be sensitive about these issues at the workplace and must ensure women’s safety.
Sexual harassment of women at the workplace is one issue which corporates need to be concerned about. Many companies and officials have been sued for cases of sexual harassment in the past, and still, such incidents are prevalent in many companies. The corporates need to address this issue by bringing in a culture that is more conducive to women. The cases of sexual harassment at Uber have diminished the brand image of the company, and this should be a lesson for other organisations as well.
One of the senior human resources officials at Jindal Power Limited has been accused of having molested his junior colleague. Deputy general manager (HR) of Jindal Power Limited, Shashikant Prasad, has been arrested for allegedly molesting his junior woman colleague at the company’s office in Chattisagarh’s Raigarh district.
The women complained about the incident to the vice president (HR) of Jindal Power Limited, Ravishankar Singh, who, instead of taking action against the accused, allegedly molested her.
Later, she reported the incident to the police and in her complaint, she alleged that Prasad had touched her inappropriately and sought sexual favours from her in the office of the firm located in Tammar town.
The police have booked Shashikant Prasad and Ravishankar Singh under Sections 354 (assault or criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354 A (punishment for sexual harassment) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC on the basis of a complaint lodged against them by the 25-year-old woman employee, who is Prasad’s subordinate.
Prasad was produced in the court yesterday and has been sent to judicial remand.
Supporting the woman employee, the State Women’s Commission had written a letter to the police, asking them to take immediate action.
Companies need to be sensitive about these issues at the workplace and must ensure women’s safety.
Update: In February of 2025, on approaching the Hon’ble Chhattisgarh High Court for quashing the FIR, the matter was heard by a Bench headed by the Hon’ble Chief Justice. Susbequently, the Court quashed the FIR/proceedings in favour of Shashikant Prasad and Ravishankar Singh, in February of 2025, and gave them a clean chit.
3 Comments
Every individual at any level in the organization, and more so for those in leadership positions and HR function must maintain highest personal and professional standards of appropriate behavior at all times, including creating a workplace free of any form of exploitation or intimidation. Any person misusing his power or position must be strongly and promptly dealt with as per the provisions of the law. This is simply unacceptable.
I appreciate and admire the woman’s courage to take the matter up to the judicial level.
Additionally, I would like to know about company best practices in dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace against people who are not their employees. How do organizations actually deal with such complaints – or do they deal with it at all?
I have had several occasions when the women in my sales team have complained about senior HR managers asking them ” What else do you have to offer other than your company’s product?” or ” Can we discuss this over dinner this evening instead of here” while on a sales call.
Can anyone throw light on how they deal with these situations officially in their organizations . What support can a non-employee expect to receive in these instances?
This is indeed sad if true. I hope it is not being done to malign some senior officers.