At AIIMS Jhajjar, Sexual Harassment Complaints by Dalit Woman Acknowledged, Then Accused Promoted

New Delhi: Suman*, who comes from a marginalised Dalit family, grew up in a small village in Haryana. After enduring years of familial and societal struggles, Suman secured a position as a pharmacist at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of AIIMS Jhajjar in May 2021. However, her life took a turn for the worse when she encountered sexual harassment and injustice at her workplace. This marked the beginning of an endless struggle for justice, which continues even after years.bh2b

The first two reports of The Wire Hindi's series on AIIMS, investigate the misappropriation of government funds. This particular segment highlights the ongoing struggle of female staff at AIIMS who have faced sexual harassment and continue to seek justice.

The Internal Complaints Committee’s (ICC) investigation corroborated the allegations against the accused, acknowledging his conduct as unethical and inappropriate. Furthermore, the investigation revealed that the accused attempted to bribe the victim to retract her complaint.

Despite these findings, rather than facing consequences, the accused was promoted last June. In fact, AIIMS has failed to respond to inquiries from both the National Commission for Women and the Union health ministry regarding this matter.

Soon after the allegations surfaced, the accused was transferred to AIIMS, Delhi. Photo: Ankit Raj/The Wire Hindi

Testimony of harassment and humiliation

On September 29, 2021, two female employees of National Cancer Institute (NCI) at AIIMS Jhajjar, Suman, a pharmacist, and Himani*, a data entry operator, filed complaints of sexual harassment against Store Officer Manohar Arya before Dr. Sheetal Singh, the assistant public health administrator at NCI. Both the complainants were employed in the Stores Section of NCI.

The following day, the complaints were forwarded to the ICC for sexual harassment of women at workplace at AIIMS Delhi as well as the medical superintendent of NCI-AIIMS.

A meeting of the committee, chaired by Professor Neena Khanna, took place on October 8, 2021, at AIIMS Delhi, where both the complainants and the accused were present.

In their testimonies, Himani and Suman alleged that Manohar Arya frequently summoned them to his office alone. Suman recounted an incident where once, while she was posted in the surgical store, Manohar attempted to forcibly kiss her and inappropriately touched her waist.

In response, Manohar Arya dismissed the allegations as unfounded suggesting that they were levelled when irregularities in the medical store surfaced.

Formation of new committee

AIIMS Delhi recognised that the distance of NCI (Jhajjar) from Delhi posed a challenge for individuals who needed to travel to Delhi for investigation. As a result, on January 4, 2022, an internal complaints committee was formed at NCI (Jhajjar), chaired by Professor Ritu Gupta. On February 17, five witnesses appeared before the committee – Nihal (pharmacist), Naveen Rathi (MTS), Deepika* (data entry operator), Dharam Singh Meena (storekeeper) and Deepa* (data entry operator).

Nihal recounted an incident where he saw Suman in tears. Upon enquiring, she disclosed that Manohar Arya had grabbed her hand. Both Nihal and Dharam Meena stated that no irregularities were found in the medical store, contrary to Manohar Arya’s allegations.

Deepika stated that Arya frequently asked female employees to visit his office alone. She asserted that she had explicitly informed Arya that she would not do so and insisted that she would visit in the presence of other colleagues.

Deepa informed the committee that Manohar Arya would invite her to his office alone for tea and had once suggested taking her to a restaurant.

During the committee meeting of May 11, 2022, Himani, Deepa and Deepika were summoned again. At this meeting, Himani said that she had decided to withdraw her case. She reasoned that since Manohar Arya’s transfer to AIIMS Delhi and his repeated apologies, she no longer wished to pursue the issue, stating that their misunderstanding had been amicably resolved through discussion.

In addition, Himani's father also retracted the complaint he had filed with the Jhajjar Police.

What did the victim's parents say?

While all of this happened, Suman continued her battle. During the committee meeting held on July 22, 2022, her parents testified that Manohar Arya had attempted to bribe their family and had reached out to them through intermediaries in the village.

Two villagers, Babulal and Bunty, had urged Suman's mother to accept money from Manohar Arya in exchange for withdrawing the case. A local police officer named Bhajanlal also visited Suman’s house and encouraged her to accept money from Manohar and drop the case.

Ultimately, on September 17, 2022, the NCI-AIIMS committee concluded that Suman's complaint was of serious nature.

In their report, the committee stated:

“Manohar Arya frequently summoned female employees to his office alone. He inappropriately intruded into the personal lives of female staff, exceeding the boundaries of his professional responsibilities. Although Manohar Arya had alleged that Suman’s complaint stemmed from a discrepancy in the stock of medicines, he failed to present any supporting evidence.”

The committee members unanimously concluded that Manohar Arya's behavior was entirely “unprofessional” and “not in accordance with his conduct as an officer”.

The committee forwarded its findings to the competent authority for further action.

First page of the ICC report on sexual harassment against women at workplace. Photo: The Wire Hindi

According to Section 13(4) of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, the employer has to act on the recommendations of the complaint committee within 60 days. But no action has been taken against Manohar Arya so far.

The victim's family runs from pillar to post

Since the committee's report was released, the victim's father has reached out to the prime minister, the President, the AIIMS director, the health ministry, the  National Commission for Women (NCW) and the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, seeking justice.

On September 22, 2023, the NCW contacted the AIIMS director, urging him to investigate the matter and take appropriate action in accordance with the Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. The commission requested to be informed about the action taken in this matter within 15 days, but AIIMS has yet to respond.

The victim's father has also sent three letters to the AIIMS director. In his most recent correspondence dated January 22, 2024, he expressed deep concern regarding his daughter’s safety: 

“I am writing this letter to you with extreme concern, which is related to the safety of my daughter. My daughter is a contractual employee at AIIMS Jhajjar. Despite my earlier letters (dated July 22, 2023 and September 14, 2023), no concrete action has been taken against the guilty officer Manohar Arya till now. This is extremely disappointing.”

Previously, on September 14, 2023, he had addressed the health ministry, saying, “It is very sad to know that Manohar Arya has managed to get undue advantage from the administration… It has come to our knowledge that Manohar Arya is a habitual offender who has harassed other girls at the workplace in the past as well… Manohar Arya has pressured my daughter and threatened her with dire consequences if she does not withdraw the case.”

The ministry sent a letter to the AIIMS director on October 6, 2023, requesting an investigation and a report on the matter. However, the director did not respond. 

Health ministry's final notice to AIIMS which also mentions the previous two notices. Photo: The Wire Hindi

A follow-up letter was sent on January 18, 2024, but it also went unanswered. The ministry’s third and final letter, dispatched on February 19, 2024, reiterated the urgency of the situation and requested that the matter be prioritised.

Despite a year having elapsed, the AIIMS director remains unresponsive.

A few months following the ministry’s last letter, AIIMS promoted Manohar Arya. A promotion committee convened on June 22, 2024, in which it was decided to promote Arya as the senior store officer at AIIMS Hospital. The official order confirming the promotion was issued in August 2024, although it took effect from the date of the seniority promotion committee meeting.

The Wire Hindi reached out to all the parties involved in this matter. When contacted, the victim said, “All my concerns are already detailed in the report of the Internal Complaints Committee, what more can I add?”

Manohar Arya refused to comment. Dr. Sheetal Singh, the first person the victim approached with her complaint, also refused to comment.

We enquired with Reema Dada, the media cell head at AIIMS, about why no action has been taken regarding the ICC report yet, how Manohar Arya got promotion even after the sexual harassment allegations were confirmed, and why AIIMS was not responding to the letters of the NCW and health ministry?

However, the media cell of AIIMS has also not issued any response.

When the ministry was questioned about AIIMS's disregard for official correspondence, they too did not reply.

This is the situation faced by a Dalit family as they await justice. Suman’s father, who once published a local newspaper that focused on Dalit issues, is now a social worker and RTI activist, while Suman's mother operates a small shop.

*Some names have been changed to protect the identities of the women.

This article, the third part of a series on AIIMS, appeared in its Hindi original on The Wire Hindi. It has been translated by Naushin Rehman.

Part one and part two of the series can be read here.

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