The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) on Wednesday accused the administration of Bharati College of ‘coercing’ a girl student to withdraw her complaint of sexual harassment she had filed with the Delhi University (DU) Vice-Chancellor against a professor.
Demanding stringent action against the professor, the NSUI staged a protest at the college and accused the college 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,” said Neeraj Mishra NSUI’s media in-charge.
In a written complaint to DU’s Vice-Chancellor and proctor on Tuesday, a third-year BA Hindi student of the college accused a professor of another department of harassing her over text messages and seeking sexual favours. The professor, who has been named in the complaint, has been asked by the administration to go on leave.
Acting Principal of the college Mukti Sanyal 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 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.