Two men convicted in sexual harassment case
File photo
A senior dental surgeon on Monday was convicted after he was found guilty of sexually harassing a woman colleague at a hospital in Bahawalpur.
Dr Umair Afzal, a senior dental surgeon at Bahawalpur THQ Hospital along with pharmacist Maqsood Cheema were convicted on the complaint.
Punjab Ombudswoman Rukhsana Gilani, while prosecuting a complaint of sexual harassment against a senior doctor and a pharmacist, passed a sentence under the Harassment Act, 2010 when the allegations were proved.
As per the complainant, Dr Afzal, who was allegedly involved in criminal activities, called the woman to his room, grabbed her hand and attempted to hug her. The victim resisted, foiled his sexual advances and managed to escape. The doctor threatened to dismiss her if she told anyone about the incident.
In addition to this, the complainant against the pharmacist stated that he had been harassing her due to which she got divorced.
Reportedly, the pharmacist often took pictures of the victim and informed her then husband regularly about their alleged affair.
In the complaint lodged with the ombudswoman, the female staffer also said that the accused duo had repeatedly harassed her and the series of sexual abuse incidents led to the victim’s parents being unable to bear the shock after which they passed away.
On receiving the written complaints, the ombudswoman immediately sought a reply from Dr Afzal and Maqsood and compelled them to attend the proceedings.
The ombudswoman, after hearing the parties’ detailed statements and recording the affidavits, gave the committee a chance to debate the issue (jiran).
She ordered the doctor to be demoted to the initial level of the time scale and to suspend the pharmacist’s annual promotion for five years after the allegations were confirmed.
The ombudswoman directed the health department officials to immediately remove the said doctor and pharmacist from the woman’s place of work and to ensure both the accused will not be transferred at the complainant’s place of work.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th, 2020.