THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: SN College, Chempazhanthy, is yet to convene a proper meeting of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to discuss the complaint filed by five female students more than a month ago alleging that an assistant professor had sent them lewd messages and sexual innuendos.
One of the complainants told Express that the college authorities were delaying taking any action on their complaints and even a proper ICC was yet to be constituted despite an existing Supreme Court rule that mandates so.
As per the sources, the complainants were twice asked to appear before a committee, which the college authorities informed them was the ICC. On August 17, the complainants turned up before the committee, which was convened by a faculty, who headed one of the departments. The second meeting was supposed to be held on September 4, but was called off by the management citing technical issues.
One of the complainants said though they gave a written statement to the committee on August 17, it had informed the attending members that a department’s head could not head the ICC. “We made it clear that the committee was constituted against the law. Thereafter, the college sent an email asking us to appear for a hearing on September 4.
They also informed us that the ICC has been reconstituted,” said a complainant. The complainants said they pointed out that the new convenor appointed to head the ICC is an external observer and that contravened law. “There is already one external observer on board so another one cannot be appointed convenor. However, it was called off,” said the complainant. When contacted, Principal Anilkumar said he does not want to talk about the matter over phone.