The Jasleen Kaur harassment controversy stemmed from the accusation of sexual harassment made by Jasleen Kaur against Sarvjeet Singh in 2015 and the events that followed. In August 2015, Delhi woman Jasleen Kaur posted a photo of a man, Sarvjeet Singh, on Facebook and accused him of harassment. The post immediately went viral on Indian social media and garnered widespread attention. She received widespread support for raising her voice against eve-teasing and sexual harassment on social media including from national celebrities and politicians. Sarvjeet was arrested the next day and was bailed the day after. It was followed by a trial by media in which Sarvjeet was labelled by terms like "National Pervert" and "Delhi ka Darinda" on national news channels. A few days after the incident, an eyewitness vouched for Sarvjeet's innocence which brought credibility to Sarvjeet's account. After four years, in 2019, the Indian court acquitted Sarvjeet of all the charges and he was held innocent.
Events
Background
On August 23, 2015, Jasleen Kaur, a former student at St. Stephen's College, posted a picture of a man claiming he passed obscene comments at her during an argument on road. After the post went viral, Sarvjeet was immediately arrested a day after by the local police under section 354A, 506 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code.
Facebook post
This man made obscene comments on me today at around 8 pm near Aggarwal, Tilak Nagar. He was on a silver Royal Enfield, vehicle number - DL 4S CE 3623. When I told him that im clicking his picture and i'm going to file a complaint against him, he responded by posing for the picture and said- "Jo kar sakti hai kar le. Complaint karke dikha, fir dekhiyo kya karta hun main". But there was something that is disturbing me much more than his obscene remarks- the fact that it was a red traffic signal and 20 other people heard what he was telling me. Yes, no one minded. No one intervened. No one stood up for me. I decided to stand up for myself and lodged a complaint in Tilak Nagar police station with his photo and vehicle number. Share his picture and vehicle number as much as you can to pin this creep.. Today he had the audacity to say these things to me, tomorrow he will have the audacity to move one step ahead and do it. PS- I could've written here exactly what he said in his comments, but i don't want FB to remove my post.
Jasleen's account
Jasleen claimed Sarvjeet was trying to jump the red signal. She asked him to follow the traffic rules to which Sarvjeet replied with obscene comments. The court later observed the complainant has made material improvements in her statements. "The testimony of the complainant is not trustworthy and casts serious doubt on the case of the prosecution."
Sarvjeet's account
Sarvjeet claimed he wasn't breaking any of the traffic rules as he was intending to take a left-turn which is a free-turn even on a red signal. He explained this to Jasleen which was construed rude by her. Jasleen took pictures and posted it on social media providing a false summary of events. Sarvjeet also claimed Jasleen fabricated events as a publicity stunt to gain a political mileage as she is a supporter of the Aam Aadmi Party, an Indian political party.
Reactions
The Facebook post shared by Jasleen on August 23rd, 2015 immediately went viral on the Internet in India with over 100,000 shares. Reactions in support of the Jasleen, lauding her bravery, and expressive of disgust and contempt for Sarvjeet came thick and fast, beginning the same day: The next day, on August 24th, the then Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal tweeted lauding her bravery asking all the girls of Delhi to speak up against such unacceptable acts. The Delhi Commission for Woman Chief, Swati Maliwal also came in support of Jasleen. The Deputy Commissioner of Police said that she will be given 5000 rupees for her bravery. Actress Sonakshi Sinha also came in support of Jasleen, however later tweeted apologizing to Sarvjeet for the presumption of guilt. After this incident, Sarvjeet has claimed he had lost his job short after the incident took place because of the media coverage and couldn't find any other stable source of income.
The news channel Times Now was fined a sum of Rs. 50,000 by the News Broadcasting Standards Authority, and was asked to apologize on-air. Times Now had interviewed the accused in an “aggressive, intimidating, and browbeating style, and the telecast of the interview with tag-lines treating the accused as guilty".
Judgment
On October 24th, 2019, four years after the incident, the court passed the judgment. All the charges were dismissed and Sarvjeet was held innocent. He was acquitted of all the charges against him.
