Guilty Until Proven Innocent
Jasleen Kaur, a student of St Stephens College, on 23rd August posted a picture of a man on a Royal Enfield bike on the social media. She claimed that the man had passed obscene comments on her and when she was clicking his picture, he said "Jo kar sakti hai kar le. Complaint karke dikha, fir dekhiyo kya karta hun main". (Do whatever you want, complain against me and then wait and watch what I will do). The post garnered million shares in a short time span and the guy was traced. Soon everyone was criticizing the accused, Sarvjeet Singh, for allegedly molesting the girl. Kaur’s post was shared widely, and Singh was slammed by the public. The story was also picked up by different media channels and a media trial ensued declaring Singh as guilty without giving him a fair chance to tell his side of the story.
(Fast Forward to 25th Oct 2019) Sarvjeet Singh who was accused of sexual harassment by Jasleen Kaur in 2015, was acquitted of all charges by Delhi’s Tis Hazari court on Friday (25 October). Sarvjeet Singh was proven innocent and verdict was in his favor. But what about those 4 years when Sarvjeet, will he get those years of his life back? All those humiliations that he and his family had to undergo. He was terminated from his job, his entire carrier halted for four years due to this episode in his life. Feminism talks about women liberalization but was that the case in Sarvjeet’s case?
Feminist says women should be respected because she is a mother, a wife, a sister and a daughter. But men are also a bother, a father, a husband and a son. Getting respect on the grounds that women have been made by the almighty in a certain way that they can conceive doesn’t make them respectable. Respect is something which is earned by your deeds and achievements, and being a women is not an achievement because it was not a matter of choice. There are many others unfortunates like Sarvjeet who have been convicted guilty and pervert by society and media. Had a boy been in Jasleen’s place media the situation wouldn’t have gain that much hype. In India feminist demand equality but never objected the fact that in such plight a man is guilty until proven innocent whereas a women in innocent until proven guilty. With the hope that better sense will prevail, I rest my case.
Shashank Shekhar
Project Coordinator