DHARMAPURI:A radio jockey couple here has lost their “casual” jobs at the All India Radio (AIR) for complaining about alleged sexual harassment by the Local Radio Station (LRS) 102.5 FM’s Programme Executive. The incident happened in April soon after an internal sexual harassment committee probed into the woman’s complaint. The couple, both of whom were anchoring music programmes, has since been petitioning various authorities including the AIR Regional Director in Chennai but to no avail.
The Programme Executive R Murali, a physically challenged person, however, claimed that the couple was sacked for furnishing false residential address. Incidentally, another “casual announcer” at the same radio station has also complained that her service was terminated for complaining about the work environment.
According to Nirmala (name changed), in 2004 she joined the AIR’s Rainbow FM at Chennai. After marrying, she shifted to Dharmapuri and auditioned for the 102.5 FM LRS and got selected as a casual announcer. “From the beginning the Programme Executive Murali began passing sexually explicit comments at me. He would ask me to call him on the phone at night. Whenever we met in office, he would look at me inappropriately. I stopped interacting with him and informed my husband who also works as a casual announcer,” Nirmala told Express on Sunday.
“In February, Murali threatened to sack me if I did not ‘cooperate’ with him,” Nirmala alleged adding that after this incident, she and her husband filed a complaint with the AIR Additional Director and the internal sexual harassment committee. An inquiry followed. While Nirmala was not briefed on its outcome, she and her husband were sacked.