JNU teacher accused of sexual harassment and molestation, third incident in two months

Earlier a professor was arrested following complaints by 8 students and a case is pending with a committee against another.

A teacher at the Jawaharlal Nehru University has been booked for allegedly molesting, sexually harassing and threatening a female research scholar.

A March, 2018 photo of the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) protesting against the professor who was accused of sexually harassing students, in New Delhi.(HT file photo)

This is the third sexual harassment case to surface in the university in recent times

Deputy Commissioner of Police Milind Dumbere confirmed a complaint had been filed. “A PhD scholar from JNU filed a police complaint and alleged that she was molested, sexually harassed and threatened allegedly by a professor of the School of Social Sciences of the university. A case under sections 354, 506, and 509 of IPC has been registered,” he said.

The complaint was received on Friday, and a case was registered the same day, Dumbere said.

The JNU Students Union (JNUSU) and gender sensitisation committee against sexual harassment said that the complainant had gone to the police directly, and had not approached them.

“I am trying to get more details on this,” said Geeta Kumari, the president of JNUSU.

READ: 50% increase in sexual harassment cases on campuses in 2017: UGC data

The current JNU-unit president of the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Vijay Kumar, however, claims the accused teacher is from the group of adult education. His Facebook post says, “another communist professor and ex-JNUTA (JNU Teachers’ Association) convenor sexually assaulted his student. ABVP demands immediate suspension and arrest of this demon professor.”

“It is a fourth year PhD student who has filed the complaint, as far as we know. The teacher is from the group of adult education at the School of Social Sciences, and had allegedly accessed the complainant’s laptop also at some point to send inappropriate emails. He has also allegedly misbehaved with her. The student has not been able to make submissions either,” said.

The teacher in question, when contacted by HT, said he has not been notified about anything of this nature yet. “I am hearing this for the first time from you,” he said.

Last month, professor Atul Johri of the School of Life Sciences was arrested on charges of sexual harassment levelled against him by eight female students.

A Delhi court later granted him bail and asked him to furnish ₹30,000 as bail bond in each case. The students have since been agitating demanding that he be suspended from his post as a teacher and not be allowed on the campus.

The administration says that the teacher has resigned from his posts.

A teacher from the School of International Studies was also accused of sexual harassment in March, and the case is pending in the university’s Internal Complaints Committee.