HC seeks government's response on plea over woman's suicide

The Delhi High Court Wednesday sought a response from the Delhi government on a plea that the city police were "dragging their feet" in a probe into the suicide of a woman lab assistant in a Delhi University college.

Justice Sunita Gupta issued notice to Delhi Police, and asked it to file a status report in the case by Jan 21, on the plea by Dharmendra Sharma, Pavitra Bhardwaj's husband who moved court complaining about police inaction in the case.

Pavitra, a victim of alleged "sexual harassment at workplace" by the principal of Bhim Rao Ambedkar College here, committed suicide by immolating herself outside the Delhi Secretariat Sep 30.

The plea filed by her husband said that Pavitra, who was lab attendant in the department of geography in the college, made more than 100 complaints against college principal G.K. Arora, his personal staff over sexual, physical and mental harassment.

But the sexual harassment committee did not take any action, the petitioner husband said.

His wife approached everyone from the university administration to the offices of the chief minister, lieutenant-governor and the Human Rights Commission with her complaint.

The court asked police to record the statement of Pavitra's husband and collect evidence from the university.

The husband, Dharmendra Sharma, a head constable in Delhi Police, said police registered a case under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) against the principal but have not taken any step either to arrest the accused or to call them for interrogation.