While the issue of sexual harassment is a harsh reality that women in the country face on a regular basis today, what ends up hurting them the most at times is the apathetic attitude of the system which is meant to protect them.Not many can gather the courage to speak up against such harassment, and yet some of those who do are treated with insensitivity and disrespect at times. Riju Bafna, an IAS officer, recently took to Facebook to narrate her experience with the judiciary in connection with a case of sexual harassment that she had filed. In her post Bafna wrote that she had filed an FIR against the Ayog Mitra of the Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission for allegedly sending her indecent messages, following which criminal action was initiated against him. "He was immediately removed from his job, thanks to the swift action by my Collector, Shri Bharat Yadav." But when on August 1, she went to the Judicial Magistrate to give her statement, she claimed that she encountered a disturbing turn of events. She wrote, "While I was giving my statement, an advocate named Lalit Sharma was standing next, overhearing my statement, along with others in the court. I asked the judicial magistrate to ask others to leave as I was uncomfortable giving my statement in front of so many people. On saying this, Lalit Sharma started shouting at me, saying "how dare you suggest me to leave, I am an advocate here and you might be an officer in your office but not in the Court". I told him that the privacy I am demanding is not as an IAS officer but as a woman and laws provide me with that. He started arguing and eventually left."When she told the magistrate that there was a need to be careful while recording the statement of women in the presence of other people, like in a sexual harassment case, "he said that you are young and that's why demanding such things."Bafna ends her post by stating "I can only pray that no woman is born in this country."If an IAS officer can be meted such treatment, one can only wonder the plight of other women in the lower rungs of society. Read her full 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, August 1, 2015