NEW DELHI: The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) on Monday alleged that a female student at the varsity was sexually harassed by a teacher and inaction by the varsity administration over the victim’s complaint forced her to leave the campus.
The students’ union alleged that another complaint accusing the same teacher of “sexual and mental harassment” by the victim’s female batch mates also did not elicit an action by the Internal Complaints Committee of the JNU. They demanded to expedite the proceedings and take action against the accused teacher including his suspension.
“The JNUSU has come to know of a case of sexual and mental harassment by a senior professor of the Centre of Chinese and South East Asian Studies, School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies, against a woman student of the same centre,” the students’ union said in a statement expressing solidarity with the victim.
“The professor in question has harassed the survivor through constant messages and calls, including lewd poems, requests for personal meetings, etc. Upon her refusal to submit in front of the professor, she was threatened with failing his paper. The said professor then went on to harass other female students so as to know about the survivor’s whereabouts. The survivor was forced to leave campus,” it added.
Vandana Mishra, the ICC presiding officer, said that an inquiry was underway in the matter and steps were being taken. “The required steps have been taken,” she said.
The students union claimed that a sexual harassment complaint was filed by the victim with the ICC on April 10 against the teacher. Another complaint was filed by a few batch mates of the victim on April 15 with the ICC accusing the teacher of sexually and mentally harassing them for knowing the whereabouts of the victim.
The JNUSU alleged that ICC did not issue a restraining order against the teacher barring him from taking classes to ensure that the accused does not contact the complainant in any form.
“In complaints of sexual harassment, the ICC is supposed to issue a restraint order which effectively restraints the accused from contacting the complainant in any form. Since the complaint was against a professor, the restraint order should have also effectively debarred him from teaching, pending enquiry. However, no such order was given by the ICC,”the JNUSU claimed.