New Delhi: The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union 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 (ICC) of the JNU.
They demanded to expedite the proceedings of the complaints filed by the students and 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," the students' union added.
Vandana Mishra, the ICC presiding officer, told PTI that an inquiry was underway in the matter and necessary steps were being taken. "The due process of enquiry is undergoing. The required action/ steps have been taken from the side of ICC," she said.
The students union in the statement claimed that a sexual harassment complaint was filed by the victim with the ICC on April 10 against the accused 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 by his student, the restraint order should have also effectively debarred him from teaching, pending enquiry. However, no such order was given by the ICC. The professor has taken a class even after the filing of the complaint,"the JNUSU claimed.
The students union also alleged that the ICC "did not take any action or provide any relief" in the complaint filed by the victim's classmates as well.
"The ICC has been known to shield those in positions of power. Just a couple of weeks back, in the case of sexual harassment against a student of the same centre by the ABVP lumpens, the ICC had shown similar attitude," the students union alleged.
Earlier last month, a female students in the varsity had complained that she was sexually harassed by four individuals, including two former students. She staged an indefinite strike at the varsity blocking the main gate of the campus for over 10 days over perceived inaction by the administration. The students' union had alleged that the accused were members of the JNU's ABVP unit.
