Jasleen Kaur Harassment Controversy

The Jasleen Kaur harassment controversy stemmed from the allegation of sexual harassment made by Jasleen Kaur against Sarvjeet Singh in 2015 and the events that followed. In August 2015, Jasleen Kaur, a woman from Delhi posted a photo of Sarvjeet Singh on Facebook, alleging that Singh had sexually harassed her. The post went viral on social media in India, garnering widespread attention. National celebrities and politicians provided Kaur with widespread support for raising her voice against eve-teasing and sexual harassment on social media.

The then Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal also tweeted in support of Kaur, calling it ‘an act of bravery’. Singh was arrested on charges of sexual harassment the next day (of which he would later be acquitted). The following day, Singh posted bail. Indian media, including national news channels, labelled Singh as a "National Pervert" and "Delhi ka Darinda" (Delhi's predator). Singh acknowledged that there had been a disagreement between him and Kaur, but denied harassing Kaur. A few days after the incident, an eyewitness vouched for Singh's innocence which brought credibility to Singh's account. In October 2019, an Indian court acquitted Singh of all the charges and he was held innocent. Jasleen Kaur responded that she will continue to fight, while Sarvjeet Singh filed a petition seeking criminal enquiry against Kaur for false accusations, which was later dismissed by Delhi High Court.

The event brought a lot of media attention to misuse of laws by women, including false rape accusation cases.

Events

Background

On August 23, 2015, Kaur, a former student of Delhi University posted a picture of a man and alleged that he passed obscene comments at her during an argument on road. After the post went viral, Singh was arrested by local police under sections 354A (Sexual harassment), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) and 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code.

Facebook post

The post made by Kaur on August 23, 2015:

''This man (misnomer) made obscene comments on me today at around 8 pm near Aggarwal, Tilak Nagar. He was on a silver Royal Enfield

Kaur's account

Kaur stated that Singh was trying to jump the red signal. She asked him to follow the traffic rules to which Singh replied with obscene comments.

The court later observed the complainant had made material alterations to her previous statements, concluding that "the testimony of the complainant is not trustworthy and casts serious doubt on the case of the prosecution."

Reactions

The Facebook post shared by Kaur on August 23, 2015, immediately went viral on the social media in India with over 100,000 shares.

Reactions in support of the Kaur, lauding her supposed bravery, and expressive of disgust and contempt for Singh came thick and fast, beginning the same day:

The next day, on August 24, the then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted lauding her supposed bravery asking all the girls of Delhi to speak up against such unacceptable acts. The then Delhi Commission for Woman (DCW) Chief, Swati Maliwal also expressed support for Kaur.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) said that she will be given 5000 rupees for her supposed bravery.

Actress Sonakshi Sinha also expressed support for Kaur, however later tweeted apologizing to Singh for the presumption of guilt.

After this incident, Singh has stated he had lost his job short after the incident took place because of the media coverage and couldn't find any other stable source of income.

Times Now fined

The news channel Times Now was fined a sum of Rs. 50,000 by the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA), and was asked to apologize on-air. Times Now had interviewed the accused in an “aggressive, intimidating, and browbeating style, and the telecast of the interview with tag-lines treating the accused as guilty".

Judgment

On October 24, 2019, four years after the incident, the court passed the judgment. All the charges were dismissed, and Singh was held innocent. Jasleen Kaur didn't appear in court for the hearings, despite repeated summons. Jasleen's family claimed that because of the online abuse she received in India, she had to move to Canada to pursue higher education. Jasleen denied receiving any summons; while her lawyer accepted that there were summons, he said that she cannot be forced to appear, adding that her father had been appearing in court.

After being acquitted Sarvjeet Singh filed a petition seeking criminal enquiry against Jasleen Kaur and her parents for false accusations and helping her to flee, but Delhi High Court dismissed the petition and held that “loss of reputation is not sufficient” to initiate a criminal enquiry under Section 340 CrPC. However, the court granted Singh the liberty to initiate appropriate legal proceedings for defamation caused by Kaur's FIR.

See also

* Rohtak sisters viral video controversy
* Manav Singh

References

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Controversies in India
2015 controversies
Abuse of the legal system
False allegations of sex crimes