LUCKNOW: Already in the spotlight over alleged love jihad cases, Lucknow’s King George Medical University (KGMU) courted fresh controversy on Thursday after an additional professor was suspended following a sexual harassment complaint by a resident doctor.
According to KGMU spokesperson Dr KK Singh, the resident doctor filed the complaint on Wednesday, alleging inappropriate behaviour by the additional professor. He was suspended to ensure that the inquiry was not influenced and was instructed not to visit the department so that the complainant could record her statement before the Vishaka Committee without any pressure. An inquiry has been initiated, he said.
In her complaint, the resident doctor alleged that the additional professor had been harassing her for the past few days, accusing him of stalking her, sending messages and making gestures both within the department and outside working hours.
The development comes weeks after two other incidents involving KGMU staff and students. A junior resident doctor, Rameezuddin, was arrested in Lucknow on January 9 on charges of attempting forced religious conversion and sexually exploiting two women. He was later expelled from the university, Vice-Chancellor Dr Soniya Nityanand had clarified.
Following this, an intern was also arrested in January for allegedly sexually exploiting a nursing student on the false promise of marriage, among other charges.
Over the past few months, the prestigious medical university has been under scrutiny amid claims that a “love jihad network” was operating from the campus. In the Rameezuddin case, a woman resident doctor who was in a relationship with him alleged that he had concealed his marital status and attempted to forcibly convert her. The matter came to light after the woman reportedly attempted to take her life on December 17.
During the investigation, Rameezuddin’s links were also traced to Dr Parvez Ansari, a suspect in the Delhi Lal Qila bomb blast case.