Woman thrashes harasser in Gujranwala

GUJRANWALA: A woman thrashed a man who tried to harass her at a hospital in Gujranwala district of Punjab province on Monday, ARY News reported.

The woman, Zarina Bibi had come for a medical checkup at Civil Hospital Gujranwala along with another female relative when the man allegedly harassed her.

Unlike other women, this fearless woman thrashed him to teach him a lesson before police intervened and forced the harasser to apologize over his misconduct.

THE LAW

A large number of women face sexual harassment in Pakistan both in public and at workplaces.

Any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favors or other verbal or written communication or physical conduct of a sexual nature or sexually demeaning attitudes that create an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment, comes within the definition of harassment.

According to Pakistan’s laws, whoever intends to insult the modesty of any woman, utters any word, makes any sound or gesture, or exhibits any object, intending that such word or sound shall be heard, or that such gesture or object shall be seen, by such woman, intrudes upon the privacy of such woman or conducts sexual advances, or demands sexual favours or uses written or verbal communication or physical conduct of a sexual nature which intends to annoy, insult, intimidate or threaten the other person or commits such acts at the premises of work place, or makes submission to such conduct either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment, or makes submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual a basis for employment decision affecting such individual, or retaliates because of rejection of such behavior, or conducts such behavior with the intention of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years or fine up to five hundred thousand rupees or with both.

Such behavior might occur in public place, including, but not limited to, markets, public transport, streets or parks, or it might occur in private places including, but not limited to work places, private gatherings, or homes.