A federal ministry on Tuesday formally started a probe into allegations of harassment leveled by a female staffer against a powerful male member of the elite Islamabad Club.
A three-member committee of the Ministry of Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) on Tuesday summoned the complainant for her statement.
The staffer, 32, who worked as the in-charge of the club's gymnasium, has accused a member of the club's Management Committee of harassing her at her workplace.
The complainant had previously made a written complaint in this regard to CADD secretary. The Ministry of Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) had subsequently agreed to hear the matter under Sections 2(h), 4 and 5 of the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Work Place Act, 2010.
In the petition, she alleged that the accused used to summon her to his office only to discuss unofficial matters, including her "personal life".
The female employee alleged that she was fired immediately after she refused to obey "immoral" orders from the alleged harasser.
“First I felt insecure in the office of that person, but now I am worried about the future of my three-year-old daughter. He [the club official] had threatened me of dire consequences,” she had previously told DawnNews.
“A number of times, [the official] showed his pictures near Niagara Falls and told me that he was a good husband and had very good stamina. He said a number of things which cannot be shared in the written application. Sometimes I [was made] to sit for one and half hours to hear his stories,” the woman claimed in her application.
The complainant appeared before the committee on Tuesday and explained that the abuser was not supposed to have interacted with her directly because he was not her immediate supervisor.
“[Instead,] he would make me sit in his office for hours while discussing non-official matters,” she said in her statement.
Talking to DawnNews after her deposition, the complainant also revealed that her contract had been terminated verbally without giving her 15 days notice after she filed her complaint.
“I told the committee that I don’t need the job. I want justice for the harassment and mental abuse I faced,” she told DawnNews.
“The committee members asked me what punishment I would suggest for the accused, and my reply was that other women working in the club should be saved from being harassed,” she said.
The committee will submit its report within a month.
The Islamabad Club has been in the news since June this year, when another female staffer, Hoorain Baloch, committed suicide inside her office in the club. So far, no investigations have been made into that matter.
