Women’s panel to act when formal complaint lodged: NCW Chairperson

New Delhi: As complaints of sexual harassment at the workplace continued to trickle in on social media, the National Commission for Women has decided to not take suo moto cognizance of the posts and take action only when the victims file formal complaints with the women’s body.

Chairperson Rekha Sharma said that many victims of sexual abuse who have joined the #metoo campaign on social media do not want to “go beyond naming and shaming” the alleged offenders.

“We have managed to connect with most women who have been posting their accounts on social media but it seems not many want to go further beyond ranting about their experiences,” chairperson Rekha Sharma told ET. “Once a case is taken up, we get in touch with the police and follow up on the case as per the law. Filing a complaint is their (victims’) personal decision,” she said.


Sharma said that the commission has urged the victims to come forward and put in their complaints formally, for the women’s body to be able to take action.

Citing the example of a case of sexual harassment filed by author Rashmi Bansal against venture investor Mahesh Murthy last year, Sharma said the commission is still following up on the case. “We had initiated an inquiry and are still following up with the case, but the victim had come forward and filed a complaint for that,” Sharma said.

Bansal had filed a complaint with the commission in April last year against Murthy for harassing her at a Mumbai cafe 13 years ago.

So far, only author Sandhya Menon, who was one of the first women to called out her harasser on the #metoo thread on Twitter, has agreed to file an official complaint.