Don’t Touch Me ‘Anyways’ – The brave case of Vishaka

A lot has already been said about gender justice. And sexual harassment is one unethical issue which most of us face in out day to day lives. Not just limited to touch, lewd remarks, those greedy eyes, quirky smiles and raunchy gestures looked like a nightmare, now have become a part of life. But does that goes untouched psychologically? My answer to that thought, even now, goes …… A BIG NO!!!

 During my legal research work, many questions popped up and raised my anxiety level to search for ‘the’ milestone case which asked the apex court to pick up the stick . And here comes the case, in much simplified terms:

The case of Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan which came before the Supreme Court in the year 1997, revealed the hazards to which a working women could be exposed if there was no check on the extreme depravity and perversion to which her fellow workers could sink.

The Supreme Court guidelines came about due to the gang rape of Bhanwari Devi by a group of Thakurs, as punishment for having stopped a child marriage in their family. This provoked women’s groups and NGOs to file a petition in the Supreme Court of India and the result is the Supreme Court guidelines on sexual harassment at workplace.

Bhanwari Devi was a village-level social worker or a saathin of a development programme run by the State Government of Rajasthan, fighting against child and multiple marriages in villages. As part of this work, Bhanwari, with assistance from the local administration, tried to stop the marriage of Ramkaran Gujjar’s infant daughter who was less than one year old. The marriage took place nevertheless, and Bhanwari earned the ire of the Gujjar family. She was subjected to social boycott, and in September 1992 five men including Ramkaran Gujjar, gang raped Bhanwari in front of her husband, while they were working in their fields. The days that followed were filled with hostility and humiliation for Bhanwari and her husband. The only male doctor in the Primary Health Centre refused to examine Bhanwari and the doctor at Jaipur only confirmed her age without making any reference to rape in his medical report. At the police station, the women constables taunted Bhanwari throughout the night. It was past midnight when the policemen asked Bhanwari to leave her lehenga behind as evidence and return to her village. She was left with only her husband’s bloodstained dhoti to wear. Their pleas to let them sleep in the police station at night were turned down.

The trial court acquitted the accused, but Bhanwari was determined to fight further and get justice. She said that she had nothing to be ashamed of and that the men should be ashamed due to what they had done. Her fighting spirit inspired fellow saathins and women’s groups countrywide. In the months that followed they launched a concerted campaign for justice for Bhanwari. 

On December 1993, the High Court said, “it is a case of gang-rape which was committed out of vengeance”. As part of this campaign, the groups had filed a petition in the Supreme Court of India, under the name ‘Vishaka’, asking the court to give certain directions regarding the sexual harassment that women face at the workplace. The Court was moved greatly after this brutal gang rape of a lady who was working for such a significant cause in the country.

The facts of the case made judges to think and feel for the pitiable and miserable conditions of women in the country and this situation accompanied by the legislative absence compelled the Court to take such an unexpected decision. The result is the Supreme Court judgment , which came on 13th August 1997, and gave the Vishaka guidelines.

If she can, why can’t we raise our voice?

Learn to say NO, to every little thing making us uncomfortable. It’s our body, we carry instincts; let’s listen to them and no one else!!!!