Three suspended in Visva Bharati sexual assault case

The Visva Bharati University Saturday suspended three accused and lodged a police complaint following an internal probe into the sexual harassment of a student from the northeast.

The fine arts student from Sikkim was allegedly sexually assaulted earlier this week by some of her seniors, who even recorded the assault to blackmail her.

"As soon as the complaint was brought to the notice of the vice-chancellor, the internal complaints committee against sexual harassment was asked to investigate the incident.

"Based on the interim report which was submitted by the committee within 48 hours, an F.I.R. was lodged and three accused of Kala Bhavan (fine arts department) have been suspended pending further investigation," a spokesperson for the vice-chancellor told IANS.

The West Bengal Commission for Women Friday took cognizance of the incident on the basis of media reports, and intends to seek the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The victim's father alleged a varsity official offered him money to hush up the matter.

Vice-Chancellor Sushanta Datta Gupta, as the then director of the Satyendra Nath Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, was accused in 2005 of sexually harassing a female scientist. He has repeatedly denied the allegations.