Upset with Supreme Court panel, I feel humiliated, says law intern

New Delhi: The young law intern who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a retired judge has said that she feels “humiliated” while appearing before the probe panel constituted at the apex court to look into her allegations as she feels they look at her with “suspicious eyes”.

“When I appear before the panel, I feel I’m being looked at with suspicious eyes. I have to constantly justify that I’m not lying, I’m not making up this story. I feel humiliated,” she told The Wall Street Journal in an interview.

She said the reason for the delay in her revelation about being sexually harassed by the judge was that she feels Indian law is “not equipped enough to sensitively deal with crimes against women.”

“I pondered over the idea of legal recourse, but feared it would do more harm than good. First, my case would’ve dragged on for years. Second, defence lawyers would make me relive every violating moment in court — something I wanted to bury at the time. Third, in cases of assaults, where there is no physical evidence, it’s one word against the other, really. There’s no reason why a law graduate would’ve won over a judge with a spotless record,” she said, adding, “I don’t think Indian law, or our legal system for that matter, is equipped enough to sensitively deal with crimes against women.”

The law graduate, who first made public the allegation by writing her ordeal in the blog, said though she had not expected it to go viral, she was happy that it has caught national attention.