A Chennai-based journalist has alleged that the police have refused to take her complaint after she faced verbal harassment and abuse from members of her flat owners' association earlier this month.
S Subhakeerthana, former employee of The Indian Express and Radio Mirchi, on Thursday, 7 April, approached the inspector of Chennai’s T 14 Mangadu police station under whose jurisdiction her apartment complex in Paraniputhur comes.
She had filed a written complaint against male members of the residents' welfare association in her apartment complex.
The complaint states that she was verbally abused by a man in the meeting and constantly harassed by other members.
'I Was Removed From the WhatsApp Group Without Prior Intimation': Subhakeerthana
“I am an unmarried woman flat owner in this complex and I live with my aged parents. I believe that I am facing discrimination from the flat owners due to my gender and my marital status. The same man abused me with a cuss word for (transgender) and later whispered into my ear and asked me to ‘come sleep with him'. Last Thursday I was removed from the residents WhatsApp group comprising 122 members. All this because I would question the functioning (including expenses and maintenance) of the apartment,” Subhakeerthana says.
According to the complaint, Subhakeerthana was removed from the WhatsApp group without prior intimation. There was no process followed ahead of her removal or reason furnished to her regarding why she was removed from the group.
“All the information regarding the apartment including water shortage, current cuts etc comes from the group,” she explains.
When the 29-year-old approached the T-14 Mangadu police station, she said her complaint was not taken seriously as she did not receive the receipt after she submitted the complaint.
“The officer said that it was up to the rest of the members to add me back and that they should hold a poll to decide. But this process was not followed when I was removed from the group,” she says.
Speaking to TNM, AS Govindan, an apartment owner in the complex and the former president of the association, said, “We are having an exclusive meeting on Sunday to resolve Subhakeerthana’s issues. We have already gone to the police station three times. I have also resigned from my post as President of the Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) as the issues have started from trivial matters.
(Published in arrangement with The News Minute.)
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