CHENNAI: The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of a news report in an English daily, which detailed the alleged sexual harassment faced by a 25-year-old single mother at the hands of a tahsildar in Tirunelveli.
The news report, titled ‘#MeToo hits govt office in TN’ on October 16, stated that Saranya, mother of two children, had been working as a temporary employee in the disaster management department in the Tirunelveli District Collector’s office since 2015. The tahsildar of the disaster management department, her superior, had allegedly forced Saranya to stay back after office hours and touched her inappropriately.
Saranya reportedly approached Collector Shilpa Prabakar Satish and the city Police Commissioner who failed to take action. After she contacted the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), she found that another person was recruited in her place, the report said. The case was taken up by D Jayachandran, member, SHRC.