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Sexual Harassment
A nursing officer at AIIMS Bhubaneswar was arrested for "sexually harassing" a woman attendant at the medical facility, police said on Tuesday. Accused nursing officer Nanu Ram Choudhury was booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, after a complaint was lodged against him at the Khandagiri Police Station in the city, a senior officer said. On Monday, the woman attendant at AIIMS Bhubaneswar had alleged that she was sexually harassed and attempts were made to outrage her modesty by the male nursing officer. Immediately after the registration of the FIR, all the employees, including the woman attendant, of various outsourcing agencies engaged in AIIMS Bhubaneswar, started a demonstration outside the main gate of the hospital, seeking action against the accused. They suspended the protest after the accused was arrested, the officer said. The woman, in her complaint, claimed that the nursing officer called her to a doctor's chamber around 1 am on Sunday and abused
A New York judge set a March 2026 trial date on Monday and moved an initial conference from mid-February to next week as the public feud between Blake Lively and her It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni continued to grow and accelerate. And in a new and separate front in the series of legal battles surrounding the film that became a surprise hit last summer, Lively in a Texas court filed a request for a deposition of a man she says was central to turning online sentiment against her during its release and promotion. The New York federal judge, Lewis J. Liman, told both sides in an order late Monday to prepare for a March 9, 2026, trial. He also moved an initial conference from mid-February to next week and told lawyers to be prepared to address complaints about pretrial publicity and attorney conduct. Liman took the actions after Lively's lawyers claimed in a filing on Monday that an attorney for Baldoni was trying to taint potential jurors over lawsuits the actors h
The U.S. government will pay nearly USD 116 million to resolve lawsuits brought by more than 100 women who say they were abused or mistreated at a now-shuttered federal prison in California that was known as the rape club because of rampant staff-on-inmate sexual misconduct. Under settlements approved Tuesday, the Justice Department will pay an average of about USD 1.1 million to each of 103 women who filed individual lawsuits against the Bureau of Prisons over their treatment at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California. The settlement follows one in a separate class-action last week in which the Bureau of Prisons agreed to open some of its facilities to a court-appointed monitor and publicly acknowledge pervasive abuse and retaliation at FCI Dublin. We were sentenced to prison, we were not sentenced to be assaulted and abused, lawsuit plaintiff and former Dublin prisoner Aimee Chavira said. I hope this settlement will help survivors, like me, as they begin to hea
The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to examine a PIL raising allegations of sexual harassment in the "Indian film industry". A bench of Acting Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said in the absence of a complaint by an aggrieved party, it couldn't order a "roving and fishing" inquiry. The petitioner, who relied on the Justice Hema Committee report with respect to instances of sexual exploitation in the Malayalam film industry, sought a direction to the National Commission for Women to inquire into the alleged violation of fundamental and human rights in the "Indian film industry" as well. "We will examine when there is a complaint. Your petition is structured on the report of Justice Hema Committee which is being looked into by another court," the bench said, "we will not direct any roving and fishing inquiry". The petitioner, Ajeesh Kalathil Gopi, alleged that sexual harassment was present in the "entire film industry" and he has even made complaint to .
Isatta Bah wakes up from a nap in a crowded shelter on the outskirts of Beirut, clutching her baby, Blessing. The 24-year-old from Sierra Leone spends her days waiting for an exit visa that could put her and her 1-year-old on a plane back to the West African nation. She wants to reunite with her family after what she called exploitative work conditions and sexual violence, along with the recent horrors of war in Lebanon. My experience in Lebanon is not good for me. I am really tired, Bah said. I want to go home. Hundreds of migrant workers in Lebanon are waiting to be repatriated after the ceasefire ending the 14-month war between the Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Israel went into effect last month. Lebanon has long drawn migrant workers dreaming of building better lives for their families. Enticed by promises of stable jobs and decent pay, they enter Lebanon via recruitment agencies under a sponsorship-based labour system known as Kafala only to find themselves often trapped with .
The Kerala High Court on Thursday said the investigation into the various cases in connection with the revelations of sexual assault and harassment in the Justice Hema Committee report was progressing well. A special division bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and C S Sudha made the observation after the state government filed a report indicating the progress in the probe in 26 FIRs registered in connection with the revelations in the report. The court also appointed an amicus curiae to collect and coordinate the various reports, suggestions and draft legislation relating to the issue of sexual harassment in the film industry. The bench was hearing several petitions related to the report of the panel. The Advocate General (AG) appearing for the state and the police told the court that of the 26 FIRs registered in connection with the revelations in the report, in five, the complainants are refusing to cooperate with the investigation and in three, the complainants said their
A Delhi court on Monday recorded the statement of a witness in a case of alleged sexual harassment of female wrestlers by former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Priyanka Rajpoot recorded the statement of the witness and posted the matter on October 19 for further proceedings. The court on May 10 ordered framing the charge of sexual harassment and other charges against Singh, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, in the case lodged on a complaint from six female wrestlers, observing that there was "sufficient evidence" against him. It had directed framing of charges against Singh, a six-time former Lok Sabha MP, under Indian Penal Code sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment) and 506 (criminal intimidation). The magistrate framed the charges on May 21 after Singh pleaded not guilty.
The Congress-led UDF opposition on Friday claimed the Left government in Kerala was on the "defensive" about the incidents of sexual harassment and abuse mentioned in the Justice K Hema Committee report and that is why it was not being discussed in the state Assembly. The opposition allegation came after Speaker A N Shamseer denied permission to a notice moved by the UDF MLAs to adjourn the House and discuss the issue of alleged lack of further probe in connection with findings in the report. Shamseer said that permission was being denied as the issue was under the active consideration of the Kerala High Court. Raising strong protest against the Speaker's decision, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, V D Satheesan, claimed the notice was moved as Shamseer himself had said the issue should not be raised as a question in the House and to move a submission or something else. "It is an insult to the House if we do not discuss this issue which concerns women. We are strongly protestin
A case of rape, sexual harassment and criminal intimidation has been registered against BJP MLA Munirathna and six others, police said on Thursday. It was registered following the complaint of a 40-year-old woman who alleged that the incident took place at a private resort within the Kaggalipura police station's jurisdiction. "We received a complaint on Wednesday night and based on it, we have registered case against seven people, including the BJP MLA under various sections for rape by public servant, sexual harassment, criminal intimidation, criminal conspiracy, voyeurism, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, Information Technology Act, and others," a senior police officer said. The matter is being investigated, he said. The fresh FIR against the BJP MLA, also a former Minister, comes days after he was arrested by the Bengaluru Police in connection with the two cases filed against him for alleged harassment, threats and casteist abuse, police said.
Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) will hold a protest on Monday in front of the Secretariat, the administrative hub here, accusing the Left government of protecting culprits reportedly mentioned in the Justice K Hema Committee report. The opposition would also protest against the alleged protection given by the Pinarayi Vijayan government to those who had created and propagated the controversial "kafir" screenshot in Vadakara constituency during the time of the recent Lok Sabha polls. Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, V D Satheesan, would inaugurate the agitation in front of the Secretariat on September 2 morning, a statement said on Sunday. UDF Convenor M M Hassan, KPCC president K Sudhakaran, other prominent front leaders including P K Kunhalikutty, P J Joseph, C P John, Anoop Jacob and Sibu Baby John would take part in the protest, it added. The opposition has been accusing the state government of protecting predators and ignoring the revelations of
Written words, either through email or on social media, that could lower the dignity of a woman constitutes an offence, the Bombay High Court said while refusing to quash a case against a man. A division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and Neela Gokhale dismissed the petition filed by a man seeking to quash the 2009 case lodged against him under section 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code. The man had allegedly written offensive and insulting emails to the complainant who lives in the same south Mumbai society as he does. The emails, as per the complainant, made comments on her character and were forwarded to several other society members too. The man sought quashing of the FIR contending that, as per section 509, the word 'uttered' would only mean 'spoken words' and not words 'written' in an email or social media posts and so on. The HC, however, dismissed his arguments observing courts must adopt a purposive approach of interpretation. "Advent of moder