Rights activist alleges ‘abuse’ by Supreme Court advocate

A 35-year-old human rights activist has alleged that a senior advocate attempted to kill her inside the Supreme Court premises after she opposed his bid to harass her sexual. The victim has alleged that the accused advocate, who tried to strangle her after dragging her inside a car, also threatened her not to report the matter to the police or he would defame her by uploading her objectionable pictures on the Internet.

However, officials of the Supreme Court Bar Association came to the advocate’s rescue, saying it stands with the lawyer against whom the FIR has been filed. “She has a past history of lodging such complaints. The matter is highly doubtful,” said a member of association.

The victim, who lives in Andheri (West), Mumbai, has written a letter in this respect to the Delhi police commissioner. A police source said that the victim knew the advocate and had visited his chamber on several occasions. The victim was allegedly sexually harassed by the accused advocate of the Supreme Court of India, the source added. The victim opposed the move and called the police. But the accused took her outside the chamber on the pretext of settling their score. She was then subjected to further physical abuse. “The accused allegedly dragged her inside a car and again tried to be physical with her. The victim raised an alarm which made the accused angry and he tried to strangle her,” the source said, quoting the victim’s complaint.

The source said that the victim somehow managed to get out of the car and decided to approach the police. The victim has alleged that the accused kept on threatening her that he had nude videos and pictures of her, and that he would upload them on the Internet if she approached the police. “I am frightened as I am staying in alone in Delhi. He has threatened me that he is a Supreme Court lawyer and the police will not take action against him,” the victim has said.

The police said that after getting a complaint in this respect, they approached the victim and took her for a medical examination. The police has lodged a case under relevant sections of the IPC.