Female cops facing sexual harassment

ISLAMABAD: The female cops of the Islamabad Police cried out in anguish when they came up with the allegations of sexual harassment at the hand of none other than their own male colleagues.

The more worrying aspect is that they submitted the complaint in black and white on March 27, 2018 but the things were seemingly brushed under the carpet for at least three weeks as no tangible action was seen the top bosses.

Now the IGP has decided to speak when contacted.

Out of frustration, the female cops seeing nothing on the horizon, decided to ‘leak’ the matter to the media.

They addressed to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court, Minister for Interior, the Chief Commissioner of Islamabad and the Inspector-General of Police, Islamabad.

The agonising situation which the female cops must have been undergoing while discharging their duties has failed to move the people at the helm of affairs.

The complainants pointed out ‘special rooms’ within the Police Lines,’ meant for mollycoddling.

The female officials are coerced on the pretext of indiscipline or negligence of duties to appear before the ‘competent authority’ (usually an officer of the rank of Superintendent of Police (SP) or the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) to clarify their position. The female officials/officers have the Hobson’s choice in the given situation however the competent authority offers them of hushing up the whole saga using their clout if they agree to spend some time in the separate room.

Mostly, the male cops succeed in exploiting them. And those who offer any resistance or refuse to such advances are harassed to the extent that they would finally budge.

These victims of sexual exploitation got together and eventually decided to stand up and say ‘NO’ to such demands when the situation became unbearable for them.

The ‘Appeal’, titled ‘Justice for the daughter of the Eve’ was marked to the Assistant Inspector General (Operations) by the Inspector General to ‘inquire into the matter and submit his findings within 7 days. This is not known whether the complainants have been summoned to explain the situation.

Dr Sultan Azam Temuri, Inspector-General of Islamabad Police, had a meeting with other high officials of the department and investigations started quietly and The News learnt that it was found out that there was substance into the allegations. They dug out at least seven credible cases in this regard.

But they are confronted with a serious problem in the investigations. The victims have ‘blown the whistle’ but are reluctant to come forth and be part of the investigations. Simply because the matter is too embarrassing for them to sit and give details as to what happened.

It has not yet been clear that the female cops have decided to approach CJP and are not ready to take up the matter with IGP.

“We cannot deny if such an ugly thing has not happened in the ranks of Islamabad Police. To say the least, it is painful and disheartening. But I believe that the doings of a few should not tarnish the image of the whole force. There are such elements in every sphere of life and the Islamabad Police, unfortunately, seem to be not an exception. But to say the least, it is absolutely unacceptable and intolerable,” said Sultan Azam Temuri while talking to this scribe.

“Investigations into the allegations have already started and we are making substantial headway. But investigation in such a matter is very tricky. One can launch investigations into other crimes but in this particular case wherein the victims have slapped the allegations but have provided no evidence or proof and are reluctant to be part of the investigations and interrogations, the situation is difficult for the investigators as they first have to collect the pieces of this puzzle and then put those together to solve it.

“As the victim female members of Islamabad Police are still reluctant to come to the fore, as they did in their ‘application’, addressed to the high officials, we are trying to get hold of the dangling strings here and there. But we are still making our way up,” the Islamabad IGP said.

“I promise one thing loud and clear that the strictest possible action, including dismissal from service and a term in jail for the offence, will be taken against those who would be found guilty. They would be dealt with as severely as allowed under the law no matter if one is a ‘Foot Constable’ or the ‘IGP’,” IGP Temuri promised.

On the other hand, among the female cops, there seems to be confusion and indecision. The complainants seem not too eager to press the charges because in that case they have to come out in public and face the wrath of the society despite being a victim of the system.

It was reliably learnt that the victims, who have lodged the complaint, have yet not forwarded the ‘video evidence’ of the exploitation to the chief justice or any other judge of the Supreme Court or those of the Islamabad High Court.

Meanwhile, the women rights activists also have their say in the matter. They believe that some extraordinary steps are needed to handle this matter because the victims deserve to be protected and investigations should be done in a manner that their self-respect and honor should not be soiled.