UP govt official arrested for sexual harassment of female colleague after video goes viral

LUCKNOW: In a glaring example of sexual harassment at the workplace, an under-secretary-level officer at Bapu Bhavan in Lucknow has been arrested for molesting an ad-hoc female colleague after the video of the act went viral on social media platforms.

The accused Ichharam Yadav is posted at the minority welfare department as a section in-charge.

The victim, who shot the video of the officer herself when he was harassing her, alleged that the under secretary has been molesting her since 2018. She said that she had been threatened with being sacked from her job if she complained.

The female worker submitted a complaint at Hussainganj police station following which an FIR was lodged against Yadav under sections 354, 506 and 294 of IPC on October 29. In the video made by the ad-hoc employee, Yadav can be seen forcing himself on the woman as she is trying to save herself by pushing him away.

The 30-year-old woman, who is married, presented multiple videos of such incidents as evidence to the police. She alleged that the police had initially failed to arrest Yadav as he was well connected. Frustrated at this, she put out the video that went viral.

In her statement given reportedly to the police, the victim claimed that the accused threatened to ruin her life if she did not agree to his advances. In her complaint, the victim had stated that the accused threatened even to kill her if she refused to marry him.

According to ADCP Central Khyati Garg, a case was registered in the matter on October 29 and an investigation is in progress. “The woman was called a few times to record her statement. After recording the statements and examining the evidence from both parties, action will be taken,” she said.

However, the Husainganj police station in-charge, Inspector AK Singh, said that the victim did not appear before the magistrate to record her statement under Section 164 of CrPC. However, the accused would soon be produced in the court, said the SHO.