The cases of sexual harassment of women at workplaces usually go unnoticed in the land of pure. But for the first time in 65-year history of Pakistan, a former military colonel was grilled on Thursday by a parliamentary panel for sexually harassing a low-grade female employee of Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC).
The National Assembly standing committee on human rights, with met here with Riaz Fatiana in the chair, took up the 'test case' in light of a law - sexual harassment of women at workplaces - passed by the parliament last year to protect working women. The meeting was also attended among others by articulate Kashmala Tariq. The committee was told that a female receptionist at PEC was sacked after she refused to fulfil the demand of senior manager administration Lieutenant Colonel Daud Pervez Malik (Retd). The victim Sadia Sibtain and Lieutenant Colonel Daud (Retd) appeared before the committee.
The victim Sadia with tears rolling down her cheeks in utter helplessness told the committee that Daud used all available options to seduce her. Taking advantage of her low profile job, he often invited her to his office and tried to touch her hands besides gazing at her. "Since my husband was abroad and he [Daud] used to ask personal questions like how is it possible for you to live without your husband etc," she narrated. The former military chap had nothing to say against the allegation levelled against him except the rhetoric such as poor performance, excessive use of cell phone during duty hours, probationary period etc.
This was not enough to satisfy the committee and particularly the outspoken Kashmala Tariq challenged the findings of the PEC committee, saying the victim had already shown no confidence in the committee members but even then they were given go ahead with one-sided probe.
She said that the findings of the committee could not be considered neutral, as the members had taken a unilateral decision without listening to the victim and removed her from the job as she had come through a proper channel. The parliamentary panel formed a sub-committee headed by Kashmala Tariq to hold a thorough probe into the matter and bring the accused to book for harassing a working woman.
The Federal Ombudsperson for Women (FOW) is also holding an inquiry into the incident. The committee directed the FOW to expedite the investigation and present its report to the panel within 30 days. Pakistan is experiencing a rapid increase in number of women joining its workforce. But the country is grappling with physical, psychological and sexual harassment of women at the workplaces.
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