The National Students' Union of India (NSUI) today accused the Bharati College administration of coercing a student to withdraw a complaint of sexual harassment she had filed with the Delhi University (DU) vice chancellor against a professor.
Staging a protest near the college premises, demanding stringent action against the professor, the Congress-backed students' outfit also accused the administration of sitting on the issue for nearly six months.
"Bharati College had not taken action for almost six months, leaving the student with no other option but file her complaint with the DU vice-chancellor," NSUI's media in-charge Neeraj Mishra told reporters, while also accusing the college authorities of "coercing the student to withdraw the plaint".
Acting principal Mukti Sanyal, however, denied the allegations.
"We came to know about it only through media reports on February 2 and today, for the first time, the student raised the issue with the college committee that deals with cases related to sexual harassment," she said.
Asserting that the college administration was not sitting on the issue, Sanyal said the committee was following all the protocols while dealing with the matter.
The professor, who has been named in the complaint, has been asked by the administration to go on leave.
In a written complaint to DU's vice chancellor and proctor yesterday, the third-year BA Hindi student of the college, who is also an NSUI member, accused a professor of another department of harassing her over text messages, besides seeking sexual favours.
"The professor crossed all limits of teacher-student relationship and sent lewd (text) messages, made (phone) calls at inappropriate times and sought sexual favours," the complaint, which was submitted along with purported evidence, read.
The student also alleged that the college administration and principal were coercing her to withdraw the complaint.
"I am getting calls from the college to settle the issue. I am being threatened with suspension and cases against me," the complaint read.
The professor was not available for comments.
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