Two home guard officials suspended after 25 women personnel allege harassment in Surat

Two home guard officials have been suspended and a probe ordered against them after 25 women home guards in Gujarat’s Surat city accused them of harassment and seeking sexual favours, a senior official said on Tuesday.

The women personnel had approached Police Commissioner (city) Satish Sharma last week with a written complaint.

“As soon as we received the written complaint from the women home guards against their senior officials, we suspended them (the two seniors) and handed over the inquiry into it to a deputy superintendent of police-level officer,” Commandant General, Home Guards, P B Gondia said.

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He said statements of 19 out of the 25 complainants have already been recorded and the process was on to record the statements of others.

The women alleged in their complaint that the two senior officials subjected them to “mental, physical, sexual, emotional and financial harassment”, and even asked for sexual favours from some of them.

The officers also asked for money to process requests for transfer to desired places, they further alleged.

If the money was not paid, the women were transferred to far-off places and harassed, the complainants said.

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One of the senior officers often touched women home guards inappropriately on the pretext of adjusting their uniform, the complaint said.

Some of the women were forced to work as domestic help for the seniors, it added.

The women had even approached police who referred the matter to the district local complaints committee set up under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act.

The four-page complaint was also sent to Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja and Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, official sources said.