‘Idiots lined up at every step’: IAS officer who filed sexual harassment case slams lawyers, judge

“I can only pray that no woman is born in this country,” IAS officer Riju Bafna said on Facebook, on a post shared on 1 August. What may have driven her to make such a statement? The disturbing misogyny of various people in power and positions of responsibility. [caption id=“attachment_2376968” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Riju Bafna. Image courtesy: Facebook.[/caption] Bafna says in the post that she had lodged an FIR against Santosh Chaubey, the Ayogmitra of Human Rights Commission. Chaubey had been sending her ‘indecent’ messages for a while. With the help of the district collector Bharat Yadav, prompt action was taken against Chaubey, who was removed from his post immediately. However, when she turned up to record her statement before the judicial magistrate in the state, a group of advocates decided to crowd around her as she gave her statement. When she asked them to leave, one of them started shouting at her, and allegedly told her, she may be a government “officer” in her office, she is nothing in the court. When she told the judge taking her statement that the court should make sure such incidents are not repeated, the judge brushed it off saying, “you are young and that’s why demanding such things”. The comments on Bafna’s post expressed shock at the lawyer and the judge’s insensitivity and audacity. One woman commented, “And imagine, you are an IAS officer… already a woman with some power. Most women are not.” A man wrote, “You should lodge a formal complaint with the State Chief Justice and the Bar Council of MP. Cc both these letters to the Hon’ble CM’s Secretariat and the office of the State Chief Secretary. The fact of the matter is that people like these are galore primarily because no one takes such people to task. Prima facie what you requested the Court was absolutely essential, specially given the nature of the proceedings. Good that you are bringing such incidents to the fore here. More power to you!!" An IPS officer Tejaswini Gautam posted, “As a woman whatever you said i agree. But i also say that since you have this opportunity to be an example for many who cant even think of doing what u already did…is proof of your power and the ability you hold. Being a woman should make you strong. And yes…like i always say…such incidents should only reinstore self confidence in you. Fantastic show of courage. And good u put this up on fb. Such people need to be shown their real worth." Read Bafna’s entire post here:

Hi everyone. I am posting this message to share my experience with judiciary on a sexual harassment case filed by… Posted by Riju Bafna on  Saturday, 1 August 2015