A business development executive working with Standard Chartered Bank in its Koramangala branch in Bengaluru has lodged a sexual harassment complaint against 11 persons including the manager.
In her complaint, the woman stated that she was sexually and mentally harassed since May 2018 and her complaints to the HR department and the CEO of the company had not prompted any action over the issue. She has been working in the same branch for the past nine years but claimed that it was only for the past eight months that she was facing harassment from her co-workers.
All 11 employees of the bank facing allegations have been booked by police under sections 354 A (sexual harassment), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
She stated in her complaint that she was touched inappropriately on several occasions by the men in her office.
The 11 employees named also includes women, who she claimed had gossiped and passed lewd comments about her. “My pleas and complaints to the heads concerned, including the HR and the CEO, went unanswered. I have been forced to work during holidays. Often, the manager forces me to stay back late while other colleagues leave. Men insult me by passing lewd comments. Now, the accused are forcing me to withdraw my complaint with the HR and CEO and are threatening to get me sacked if I don’t,” she said as per Times of India.
In November 2018, a law intern was found dead in Bengaluru after filing a sexual harassment complaint with the police just days before she was found dead. Over the past six months, several cases of sexual harassment have come to light in the city, including in banks and in public sector jobs.