A controversy has erupted at Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) in Rohtak, Haryana, after supervisors allegedly asked the women safai karamcharis, seeking a day off, to share pictures of sanitary pads to verify that they were menstruating and therefore could not attend duties.
Police registered a First Information Report against three persons on charges of outraging the modesty of a woman and criminal intimidation under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the PGIMS police station on Wednesday.
On October 26, three women safai karamcharis, on the rolls of Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam, were called for work in view of the three-day visit of Governor A.K. Ghosh to the university campus. The women, however, expressed their inability to come to work and sought a day off, saying that they were on their periods.
The supervisor allegedly told them to share pictures of the sanitary pads to prove that they were menstruating. “The supervisor said he had been directed by a higher official to obtain the pictures. The supervisor kept on putting pressure on us, and we had to finally take the pictures of sanitary napkins to prove it,” one of the women safai karamcharis told The Hindu over the phone.
The two supervisors have been suspended by the MDU authorities, and the matter has been referred to the Internal Complaints Committee on Sexual Harassment for probe. The Vice-Chancellor and Registrar of the State-run university have condemned the incident.
Published – October 31, 2025 12:45 am IST
