Haryana: 500 university girl students accuse professor of sexual assault; write to PM, CM
Students allege the assaults have been going on for several months and that they were threatened with ‘very bad consequences’ when they lodged a protest
At least 500 female students at the Chaudhary Devi Lal University in Haryana have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar accusing a professor of sexual harassment. They have demanded his suspension and an inquiry by a retired High Court judge into the matter.
The students have sent copies of the letter to the university's Vice Chancellor Dr Ajmer Singh Malik, Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij, and the chairperson of the National Commission for Women, Rekha Sharma.
The students in the letter say the professor who is a “a person with immense political influence” has committed “filthy and obscene acts”. The letter goes on to say that he calls girl students to his office, takes them to the bathroom, touches their private parts, and does obscene things with them.
The complainants say that this has been going on for several months, and that they were threatened with “very bad consequences” when they lodged a protest. They also claim that the vice chancellor, instead of helping them, threatened to expel them from the university. The girls said the vice chancellor offered to give them higher marks in the examinations if they remained quiet.
Several victims say they do not expect any action would be taken against the professor until the concerned authorities are “forced by public opinion”.
The police say that a special investigation team (SIT) was formed under IPS officer Deepti Garg to probe the allegations, and that the team has already visited the university and recorded statements from several people.
University’s Registrar Dr Rajesh Kumar Bansal told NDTV that the police were investigating the case, and that the university’s committee was also probing the allegations. He said that the guilty would not be spared, but that an innocent person’s character should not be assassinated.
He also said that relevant CCTV footage had been handed over to the police. However, the letter claimed that the professor had already “deleted his indecent actions from CCTV footage of his office”.
The officer heading the SIT Deepti Garg told NDTV that the investigation was underway, and that the statements of some students had been recorded. She also said that the professor had been questioned, and that a case would be filed if the preliminary inquiry finds sufficient evidence.
