Threat of Atrocity & Sexual Assault

“Sir, we have this woman servant in our laboratory that is very abusive. She just used some unmentionable bad words and slapped this male servant. He is crying. She had similarly abused another male servant from the laboratory a few months ago.” This I heard from another servant. “Woman servant?” I was surprised. Bad words? Beating up a male servant? Male servant crying because a woman servant abused him and beat him up? May be the sequence was wrong. “Yes sir.” “What did he do to her?” “She asked him to do something, which was not in his job description. He told her so.” “But that is against the law. No one in this country can abuse or beat someone,” I said. “He is going to meet you and complain about it.” “But I cannot sort out a law and order situation. This is a matter for the police. Tell him to go to the security officer, and then lodge a police complaint.” I thought it was a good piece of advice. Apparently it wasn't. Four days later I learned that the woman servant had been transferred to another place in the hospital, and the laboratory had no servant to do her work. The person in charge of the laboratory had every reason to be upset. Then I made enquiries and found that they had got one of our Associate Professors to write a call to the time-keeper and get that woman transferred. I called the first servant who had arranged all this and asked him for an explanation. “Why did the aggrieved servant not lodge a police complaint?” I asked. “It does not work, Sir” he said. “Only transfer can be done.” “But that is no good. She will behave similarly wherever she is placed. She needs to be stopped or corrected. Police action and legal action would have sorted out the problem.” He was reluctant to explain the reason. But since I showed no signs of understanding the matter on my own, he explained, “Sir, if a police complaint is lodged, she lodges a complaint against the complainant under the Atrocities Act.” “Huh?” I was taken aback. This was something that had not occurred to me. “But you have witnesses.” “Sir, that has no standing. Furthermore she is bad medicine. She will also lodge a complaint of sexual assault.” “Huh!” I seemed to be developing a habit of saying 'Huh'. “Believe me, Sir. What we have done is the best way out. If she remains away from the department, I will thank merciful God.” “OK” I said. What a woman, and what a brilliant use of two weapons given to her by the constitution of the country! When I told this story to a colleague, he was not surprised. “This is the standard method,” he said. “It is done at all levels of the society. Don't you remember the minister who had shot a protected antelope and when the forest officer took legal action against him, filed a complaint against the officer under the Atrocities Act? I did remember reading about it in the newspaper and kept quiet.