65-year-old files sexual harassment complaint

BENGALURU:  A 65-year-old woman was allegedly sexually harassed by a laboratory technician when she visited a private laboratory to get an X-Ray in February. She waited for the management to take action against the technician for almost two months, and when that did not happen she finally approached the police.

Sonia (name changed), a resident of Hegde Nagar on Thanisandra Main Road, filed a complaint with Amruthalli police in which she stated that on the advice of a doctor she went to get an X-Ray done at Ulex Diagnostic in Coffee Board Layout in Kempapura. 

On February 4, at around 11.30 am, after arriving at Ulex she was taken into the X-Ray room by the technician identified as Dilip. “After entering the room, Dilip on the pretext of taking the X-Ray started touching me inappropriately. When I questioned him, he told me he was adjusting me to get a proper reading on the X-Ray machine. After a while, Dilip allegedly touched my chest inappropriately,” Sonia told the police, adding that she screamed at him to stop touching her and immediately left the room. 

She then complained to the management of Ulex and asked them to take action against Dilip, but, to her surprise the management supported Dilip. For almost two months, Sonia kept following up with the management to see if they had taken any action, but they stopped responding. She finally had to approach the police.

After a preliminary investigation, a police officer from Amruthalli police station said Sonia seemed to be making a genuine allegation. “We have booked Dilip for sexual harassment under IPC section 354 A,” the officer added. 

Reacting on behalf of Ulex diagnostics, advocate Lakshminarayana Reddy said, “When we heard about the allegations, an internal inquiry was conducted and Dilip was found to be innocent. During our inquiry, we found there was some misunderstanding in communication which made the woman feel that he harassed her. We have replied to the woman’s notice and informed her that Dilip was found to be innocent, and also apologised to her.”