The legal and gender experts on Monday argued that beleaguered Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA Ayesha Gulalai would have strengthened her case if she had first lodged a formal complaint with the party, rather than going to media.
Dr Fouzia Saeed-a noted gender expert who is well known in social circles and has worked for decades on women's issues, especially those linked to violence against women, prostitution, women in entertainment business, women's mobility and sexual harassment-categorically stated that unless Gulalai approaches a forum as a complainant, it is useless to make hue and cry in media.
"If she wants action against the person who she has accused of harassment, she has to approach Ombudsman, a parliamentary committee, or any other any legal forum and only then action can be initiated against the accused," she added. "According to her, under the Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Bill, 2010, sending obnoxious message to a woman is a sexual harassment, but again I would say there should be a complainant," she said.
Ikram Chaudhary Advocate, former vice president Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), also said under different sections of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), action can be taken against the person for sexually harassing a woman. He said that PPC itself is enough to prosecute an offender if the complainant has solid evidence of sexually harassment, adding with the passage of the Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Bill, 2010, one has to lodge a formal complaint first.
"It is easy to accuse someone of harassment, but in the court of law, one has to corroborate one's allegations. Also, it is an issue that took place in 2013, and the court will ask why she remained quite for complete four years, so it's not easy," he maintained.
He continued that from the outset, there has only been one prudent course of action in the matter and that is to determine the veracity of Gulalai's claims through a credible investigation, which is the right of any woman alleging sexual harassment.