Trigger Warning: Rape, sexual assault/harassment
Protests have broken out in the Northeastern state of Assam after a woman who was on her way to pick up her daughter from school was raped, beaten, and then thrown out of an auto-rickshaw. She died the next day from her injuries. This incident is very similar to the December 16th, 2012 rape of a physiotherapy student in New Delhi which caused massive unrest.
The protests come amidst multiple national scandals involving sexual harassment charges made in prominent Indian workplaces. Most notably Tehelka, a popular investigative journalism magazine, was rocked by scandal after the editor and founder was forced to step down due to a female colleague’s accusation of rape. The accused editor, Tarun Tejpal is famous in India for a series of stings in which high-ranking officials were caught accepting massive bribes from people posing as, in one instance, arms manufacturers. Tejpal is accused of having raping a woman on the same night that he rubbed shoulders with celebrities such as Robert de Niro and others at THiNK 2013, “an orgy of intellectual platitudes by lavishly hosted celebrities and thinkers with tabs picked up by a bevy of corporates.” Tejpal has not been arrested despite the fact that police have levied rape charges against him.
Tehelka found itself unequipped to deal with the charges despite the April 2013 Supreme Court mandate requiring workplaces such as Tehelka’s to have mechanisms to address sexual harassment charges. Another scandal involved the accusations by three employees of India’s state-owned broadcaster, Prasar Bharati, of sexual harassment by a senior official. The three women came forward only after Bharati faced accusations in a separate case as they were initially too afraid to come forward themselves. Sonya Gill, secretary of the All India Democratic Women’s Association in the state of Maharashtra makes clear what women are risking by coming forward. “They are relieved of their posts and their work records are withheld, quashing their prospects to find another job. For women, it’s very complicated and confusing to raise a complaint about sexual harassment.”
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