KOCHI: After the controversies over recruitment and the missing exam answer scripts, Kalady Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit (SSUS) has been rocked by a sexual harassment complaint.
A research scholar with the Malayalam department has alleged that despite a report by the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), authorities are yet to take action against a professor who passed sexually explicit comments. With the university not taking any action, students and members of student organisations like SFI and AKRSA staged a dharna.
“We called off the dharna after the university assured us that it would implement the suggestions made in the ICC report,” said the complainant. She said she would pursue the case till she gets justice. “I want to ensure that such an incident never happens to any other girl on the campus,” she said. She added that the incident happened at 7.15am on November 30 when she was returning to the campus after jogging.
“The professor who was coming from the opposite direction, along with another person, pointed to the hip bag I had around my waist and told me to push it to one side,” she said. “The lewd tone in which he commented shocked me. I was aghast and thought why does the hip bag on me bother him? What did he mean by the comment? What were his thoughts about my body? What did he want to see by moving the bag aside? I had never expected such a comment from a professor,” she said.
She said it was the first time that such a thing has happened to her on campus. “This has been my second home since 2014. Such a thing should have never happened in a university,” she said. Meanwhile, the university said the vice-chancellor in charge has promised to implement the recommendations in the ICC report. “He has said he will sign the order regarding the action to be taken when he arrives on campus on Thursday,” an official said.