Women and Child Development Ministry to constitute panel to look into 'sexual harassment' cases

The Women and Child Development Ministry will constitute a panel of legal experts to look into the allegations of sexual harassment that have surfaced in the #MeToo campaign, a senior official said Monday.

The committee will look into the legal and institutional framework in place for handling complaints of sexual harassment, including some of the complaints if required, and advise the ministry on how to strengthen these, Union Minister Maneka Gandhi had said last Friday.

"The formal order of constitution of the committee will be given in a couple of days," a senior WCD official said.

India's #MeToo movement, which started with Tanushree Dutta alleging that actor Nana Patekar harassed her during a film shoot in 2008, has escalated sharply with increasing numbers of women coming forward with their complaints.

Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar, film director Subhash Ghai, Sajid Khan, Rajat Kapoor and actor Alok Nath are few among those accused of sexual misconduct and more.