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.[1] 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.[2][3][4]

The Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal also tweeted in support of Kaur, calling it ‘an act of bravery’.[5] Singh was arrested on charges of sexual harassment the next day (of which he would later be acquitted).[1][6][7] The following day, Singh posted bail.[8][9] Indian media, including national news channels, labelled Singh as a "National Pervert" and "Delhi ka Darinda" (Delhi's predator).[10] Singh acknowledged that there had been a disagreement between him and Kaur, but denied harassing Kaur.[11] A few days after the incident, an eyewitness vouched for Singh's innocence which brought credibility to Singh's account.[12][13] In October 2019, an Indian court acquitted Singh of all the charges and he was held innocent.[1][6][7] 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.[14]

The event brought a lot of media attention to misuse of laws by women,[15][11][16] including false rape accusation cases.[17][18][19]

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 a 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.[20]

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, vehicle number - DL 4S CE 3623. When I told him that im clicking his picture and i'm going to file a complaint against him, he responded by posing for the picture and said- "Jo kar sakti hai kar le. Complaint karke dikha, fir dekhiyo kya karta hun main".

But there was something that is disturbing me much more than his obscene remarks- the fact that it was a red traffic signal and 20 other people heard what he was telling me. Yes, no one minded. No one intervened. No one stood up for me. I decided to stand up for myself and lodged a complaint in Tilak Nagar police station with his photo and vehicle number.

Share his picture and vehicle number as much as you can to pin this creep. (only if you care).

Today he had the audacity to say these things to me, tomorrow he will have the audacity to move one step ahead and do it.

PS- I could've written here exactly what he said in his comments, but i don't want FB to remove my post.[21]

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."[1]

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.[21]

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.[2] The Delhi Commission for Woman (DCW) Chief, Swati Maliwal also expressed support for Kaur.[2]

The Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) said that she will be given 5000 rupees for her supposed bravery.[3]

Actress Sonakshi Sinha also expressed support for Kaur, however later tweeted apologizing to Singh for the presumption of guilt.[4]

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.[9]

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".[22]

Reality

Few days later, some eyewitness came forward and gave their testimony in favor of Sarvajeet Singh, and called Jasleen's statement fake and baseless. During a news debate between Jasleen and the eyewitness by Zee News, Jasleen Eventually started arguing with the news anchor and the eyewitness for calling her allegations baseless. It has been claimed that she did it 'on purpose', as she was then a student member of Aam Admi Party, and wanted to get into politics. In a few days, Jasleen started receiving hate from the media as her allegations continued to be discussed live on air. She has as of now, not attended any court hearing and she was last seen studying in Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia. She has deactivated all her social media accounts out of fear. Some online users have claimed Jasleen has now settled in Canada and is working in a corporate Bank and she has refused to come back citing security issues.

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.[1][6][7] 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.[23][24]

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.[14]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Complaint doubtful: Delhi court acquits Sarvjeet Singh in 2015 sexual harassment case". India Today. Asian News International. October 26, 2019. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  2. 1 2 3 Team, DNA Web (2015-08-24). "Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal applauds Jasleen Kaur for standing up to her molester". DNA India. Archived from the original on 2020-11-08. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  3. 1 2 ANI (2015-08-24). "Girl eve teased in Tilak Nagar to be awarded Rs. 5k for bravery". Business Standard India. Archived from the original on 2020-11-08. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  4. 1 2 "Jasleen Kaur case: Sonakshi Sinha apologises to man accused of harassing girl". Firstpost. 2015-08-28. Archived from the original on 2020-09-25. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  5. ↑ "Twitterati troll Kejriwal for his 2015 tweet on the Sarvjeet Kaur's case after he was acquitted recently". The free press Journal.
  6. 1 2 3 "Jasleen Kaur case: Sarvjeet acquitted after four years, netizens demand apology from Kejriwal, Arnab for maligning him". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 2019-12-01. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  7. 1 2 3 "Delhi Biker, Accused Of Molestation In 2015 At Signal, Gets Clean Chit". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 2020-09-03. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  8. ↑ "Delhi Biker Arrested for Sexual Harassment Gets Bail". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-03. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
  9. 1 2 "4 Years After Fighting The Jasleen Kaur Case, Sarvjeet Singh Bedi Has Finally Been Acquitted". indiatimes.com. 2019-10-25. Archived from the original on 2020-05-16. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
  10. ↑ Bhardwaj, Ananya (2019-10-25). "Man labelled pervert and Delhi ka darinda acquitted in molestation case after 4 years". ThePrint. Archived from the original on 2020-08-11. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  11. 1 2 Indian, The Logical (2019-10-25). "After 4 Years Of Public Shaming & Struggle, Saravjeet Singh Finally Proven Not Guilty On Jasleen Kaur Case". thelogicalindian.com. Archived from the original on 2022-05-21. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  12. ↑ Bhardwaj, Ananya (2018-12-03). "Delhi woman who accused biker of molestation 3 years ago finally appears in court". ThePrint. Archived from the original on 2019-12-17. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  13. ↑ "Why Delhi woman behind viral post on 'molestation' didn't appear in court for 3 years". The Print. 2018-11-11. Archived from the original on 2021-06-13. Retrieved 2022-05-21.
  14. 1 2 "Delhi HC dismisses plea seeking criminal enquiry against former DU student for giving false evidence". The Indian Express. 2022-10-04. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
  15. ↑ "Sarvjeet Singh Might Have Been Acquitted But Verdict Shows How False Cases Ruins One's Life". IndiaTimes. 2019-11-22. Archived from the original on 2021-06-20. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  16. ↑ "Jasleen Kaur case: Sarvjeet acquitted after four years, netizens demand apology from Kejriwal, Arnab for maligning him". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 2021-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  17. ↑ "'Spare innocent men anguish': India ruling aims to end false rape claims". the Guardian. 2019-02-11. Archived from the original on 2022-03-26. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  18. ↑ "Does India have a problem with false rape claims?". BBC News. 2017-02-08. Archived from the original on 2022-03-26. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  19. ↑ "Alarming rise in false rape cases; need to be dealt strongly: Delhi High Court". The Indian Express. 2021-08-17. Archived from the original on 2022-03-26. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  20. ↑ "Delhi biker who abused young woman booked for sexual harassment". Firstpost. 24 August 2015. Archived from the original on 2020-09-02. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  21. 1 2 Bhardwaj, Ananya (2018-09-09). "This Delhi man was called a 'pervert' in viral post 3 years ago — and he's still stuck there". ThePrint. Archived from the original on 2020-02-15. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  22. ↑ Bansal, Shuchi (2016-03-15). "NBSA asks Times Now to issue apology, pay fine for a story". Livemint. Archived from the original on 2020-09-14. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
  23. ↑ Bhardwaj, Ananya (2018-09-11). "Why Delhi woman behind viral post on 'molestation' didn't appear in court for 3 years". ThePrint. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
  24. ↑ Indian, The Logical (2018-09-12). "Moved To Canada Because Of Online Abuse, Says Jasleen's Uncle Over Her Failing To Appear Before Court". thelogicalindian.com. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
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