SHC orders probe into harassment of social welfare female officials

KARACHI: Taking notice of the complaint by provincial Social Welfare Department female officials, whose numbers were shared online on immoral websites after they moved Sindh High Court against promotions in the department, the court has instructed on Wednesday the chief secretary to probe the matter, ARY News reported.

The court directed the chief secretary and secretary social welfare department for investigation and to roll out regulations to safeguard female officials from harassment cases.

SHC has directed the Federal Investigation Agency, which has filed the joint complaint by 25 commissioned female officials whose number were shared online, to independently investigate the matter.

In the meantime, the court has extended its stay order over notification of departmental promotions up till November 2, while it strictly warned government officials and private employees to not violate the law.

READ: Female officials harassed after court challenge to illegal promotions

Earlier, in a strange incident of harassment, telephone numbers of 25 Grade-17 female officers of the social welfare department, were displayed across immoral and indecent websites, after they challenged out of turn promotions in the department.

The harassment victims have written letters to the Chief Secretary Sindh, Secretary Social Welfare and other top officials of the provincial government with regard to the offence.

Secretary Social Welfare Sindh Nawaz Shaikh has also confirmed the incident.

The phone numbers of only those female officials have been sent to indecent websites, who had filed a petition in the court against illegal and out of turn promotions in the department.

The victim officers in their letter said that they were receiving immoral videos from different countries. “We are also being harassed at Whatsapp,” they wrote to the high ups.