The Anna University sexual assault case has demonstrated yet again that our city and State have a long way to go in creating truly safe, inclusive places of work and study.
A brief review of the facts – in December, an Anna University student was sexually assaulted on campus. She had been in the company of a male friend when one Gunasekaran approached the couple, threatening them with blackmail; the friend was subsequently intimidated into leaving, following which the student was sexually assaulted. The survivor – alongwith a professor from the university’s POSH (Prevent of Sexual Harassment) cell – filed a police complaint about the incident the same day, and Gunasekaran was apprehended the next day. He has confessed to the crime.
The administration has come under fire for its mismanagement of the case. Initial reports of the crime saw reprehensible victim blaming by dint of the circumstances under which the crime was committed. Further, the First Information Report (FIR) containing the survivor’s personal details was leaked to the public. According to a piece in The News Minute, the Court directed the administration to provide Rs. 25 lakhs to the survivor by way of compensation. Pointing out that such leaks create an environment of fear preventing other victims from coming forward, the bench questioned the conduct of law enforcement. The bench also emphasised in its remarks that the survivor cannot be blamed and that it is her private right to choose her companion, adding that the university ought not to resort to moral policing citing this incident.
The leak is thought to have occurred due to technical glitches arising from the migration of data from IPC (Indian Penal Code) to BNS (Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita). However, it is notable that the POSH Act mandates that the confidentiality of the survivor be respected and maintained.
The legal proceedings also included a telling exchange between the Advocate General and the Court – when the former argued that the State has been denied due credit for apprehending the accused within 24 hours, Justice Subramaniam is reported to have asked, “Constitutionally, the state is supposed to prevent crime. How can you say the state must be appreciated just because one accused was apprehended?”
There lies the rub. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (which also applies to educational institutions) not only lays down the guidelines for an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to address complaints, but also mandates the provision of a safe working environment. In other words, a legitimate application of the Act will not only establish the means of redressal but also actively prevent the occurrence of sexual crimes. However, current application appears to be lax. Case in point – Gunasekaran (who is said to have run a roadside eatery near the campus) was reportedly discovered to have a history of crime including one for sexual assault on the very same campus in 2011. The recent incident simply should not have had the opportunity to arise.
A paper published by CEDA (Centre for Economic Data and Analysis) in May 2024 by Akshi Chawla [A decade of the POSH Act: What the data tells us about how India Inc. has fared] also points out out that compliance with the Act is poor. It says that the Supreme Court of India made much the same remark in 2023, ruing that there were “serious lapses in the enforcement of the Act” even after a decade of the law coming into force. Instead, what typically unfolds when such crimes surface are long debates that pick apart and sensationalise singular instances – a situation that is unfair to survivors as well as the spirit of the Act. Readers may remember that not too long ago, widespread media reports were made of another sexual harassment case at a well-known arts institution in the city; that case too saw a lot of dialogue but clearly no policy reform has come of it to benefit the city and its people. These discussions appear to almost always descend into some form of politicking, post which a slew of myopic measures is hastily rolled out.
Anna University too is said to have kick-started several reforms. The ICC is reported to have initiated an inquiry into the incident while the university’s Chancellor – TN Governor R.N. Ravi – is said to have personally reviewed the security measures on the campus. The National Commission for Women (NCW) has reportedly taken suo motu cognizance of the case and has arrived in the city to take their investigation forward.
Much effort seems to be underway to create a safe environment at Anna University. But what, we ask, about the rest? Will there be a comprehensive audit on the implementation of POSH in educational institutions? Will there be efforts to identify and review well-defined actions to create truly safe spaces of work and study? One can only hope.