Violence at workplace: Sexual harassment case surfaces at elite club

Admin trying to hush up report; manager found guilty now threatening victims .

ISLAMABAD:

A former manager of the Gun and Country Club, who was recently terminated after female staffers complained against him for sexual harassment, is now threatening the complainants to avenge his termination.

The club is a high-end entertainment and rifle shooting sports facility being run by the government.

A group of female employees told The Express Tribune that former Manager Administration and Maintenance Nizamuddin had been harassing them for the last two years.

The victims claimed that the suspect would ask them for a full body massage, touch them, use vulgar language “and commit other immoral activities”.

They filed a complaint to the secretary of the club, who instead of taking action against the suspect leaked the copy to him.

After their complaint, the women said, Nizamuddin locked them in a room, subjected them to physical violence and forced them to change their statements.

The victims later wrote to Minister of State for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Usman Ibrahim, who formed a probe committee comprising a senior woman police official and high-ranking officials of the ministry.

All the complainants and the suspects appeared before the committee and recorded their statements. A member of the committee told The Express Tribune that the suspect confessed to harassing women employees. The probe also found him guilty of embezzlement and terminated him on November 5, 2014.

The committee, however, did not release its findings. The committee member says that MNA Daniyal Aziz, who is administrator of the club, hushed the issue up.

However, when contacted by The Express Tribune, the MNA said “We have already done justice to the victims of sexual harassment by terminating the suspect.” He said he was unaware that the suspect was threatening the complainants.

The victims demanded release of the report so that corrective measures could be taken against the suspect. “We feel insecure to speak up about the issue in the media. We need justice,” they said.

The complainants have sought justice and security from President Mamnoon Hussain, who is patron of the club.

Among the complainants was Nawaz Khan, husband of one of the victims of sexual harassment. His wife, a heart patient died while she was on duty at the club. Khan is a father of five and works at a utility store.

“A few months before her death, she was very upset and told me how Nizamuddin was harassing her. She wanted to but did not resign because of the financial constraints,” he said.

Khan claimed that when Nizamuddin came to know that she was trying to expose him, he beat her up and dragged her in the premises of the club. As a result of this she suffered a heart attack and died, Khan said.

Khan said he is a poor man and could not lodge even an FIR against the suspect.

On National Working Women Day, which is celebrated every on December 22, women’s rights activists say there is need to ensure implementation of the Protection Against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2010.

Mehergarh, an organisation working for the implementation of the anti-harassment law, has so far reported 3,500 cases of sexual harassment at workplace since 2010.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2014.