A complaint is not automatically barred because the woman has died. Section 9(2) permits a legal heir or other prescribed person to complain, and Rule 6(iv) allows a person with knowledge of the incident to file with the written consent of her legal heir. Prepare evidence of both the knowledge and the heir's consent. The committee must still examine jurisdiction, timing and the available evidence.
Who should sign the complaint?
Choose the statutory route on the facts instead of collecting signatures from everyone who is upset. Where a person with knowledge files under Rule 6(iv), identify that person, explain what they know and attach written consent from the legal heir. If the legal heir is the complainant, state the relationship and basis for claiming that status, together with the source of the account.
A relative is not necessarily a legal heir for every purpose. The relevant family and succession facts need to be established. A hospital emergency contact, workplace nominee or friend may have valuable evidence without automatically being the person whose heirship is required. If there is a genuine dispute about who can give the consent, obtain advice rather than presenting an assumption as settled.
What evidence can support an account the woman cannot now give?
Preserve contemporaneous material lawfully available: messages she sent, a draft complaint, earlier reports to HR, documents recording meetings and witnesses with direct knowledge. Distinguish what the deceased woman told someone from what that person independently saw. That difference should be explicit in the complaint.
Do not turn private speculation into a quotation. If a colleague recalls a conversation but has no recording, describe it as their recollection and date it as accurately as possible. If there is a draft statement, keep its original file and explain whether it was sent, signed or merely saved. A document does not become a filed complaint because it was found after death.
The respondent remains entitled to a fair inquiry. The woman's death does not establish the allegation or authorise the committee to skip assessment of the material. It may affect what evidence is available and how it can fairly be tested. An honest complaint acknowledges those limits.
Does death create a fresh limitation period?
Do not assume so. Section 9 ordinarily measures the period from the incident or the last incident in a series. The prescribed substitute-filing route does not expressly create a new clock running from discovery of a message or from the woman's death. Explain the actual chronology and request an extension where legally available.
The committee can extend by up to three additional months if it records reasons and is satisfied that circumstances prevented filing within the ordinary three months. Serious illness, incapacity and the circumstances surrounding death may be relevant to that assessment, but they are not a reason to invent a later incident date. If the matter is outside the available POSH period, ask separately about other remedies on the facts.
Which committee receives the file?
Use the committee competent for the workplace and respondent. The Local Committee is relevant where the statutory conditions in section 6 apply, including complaints against the employer himself. The fact that the proposed filer is a relative living elsewhere does not automatically transfer the workplace complaint to that relative's district.
Include the workplace address, employment or workplace connection, respondent details and any earlier correspondence with the Internal Committee. Ask for acknowledgment and a decision on the Rule 6 route. If another inquiry or police case already exists, disclose it with its reference number so contradictory accounts and missing records can be addressed.
What should the consent and covering request contain?
- The deceased woman's identity, death certificate particulars and relevant workplace.
- The filer's identity and precise basis of knowledge.
- The legal heir's identity, relationship and supporting documents.
- Written consent to this complaint, identifying the events and committee rather than a blank authorisation.
- A chronology addressing the filing period and any extension sought.
- A request to preserve employer-held material, particularly records with short retention periods.
A covering request can say: "I submit this complaint under section 9(2), read with Rule 6(iv), as a person with knowledge of the incidents described. The legal heir's written consent is attached. Please acknowledge receipt and determine the complaint through the applicable statutory process." It should be adapted if the heir is filing directly.
Keep the record confidential. Do not publish the allegations as proven findings or attribute the death to harassment without evidence supporting that separate allegation. The purpose of this filing is to obtain an inquiry into workplace conduct. Questions concerning the cause of death or a criminal offence require their own factual and legal assessment.
For the general route, see our POSH complaint guide. The employment and labour practice page covers the related employment issues.