JNU students protesting against professor Johri who is accused of sexually harsassing female students, at Vasant Kunj Police Station in New Delhi on Monday. (File)
JNU professor Atul Johri, accused of sexual harassment by eight students from the School of Life Sciences, was arrested by Delhi Police on Tuesday. Johri, who had not turned up for questioning on Monday, came to the police station on Tuesday, following which he was questioned and arrested. He was later granted bail by a Delhi court.
DCP (South West) Milind Dumbere said, “Johri turned up for questioning after we issued notices to him Monday, when he failed to turn up for questioning. We have arrested Johri and produced him before Patiala House Court,” Dumbere said.
As per police sources, the professor denied allegations made by the complainant in the first FIR. Police said Johri had, in fact, attributed the allegations to the complainant not having enough attendance. “Johri kept telling us that he shared a cordial relationship with his students. He claimed the allegations were false. He said the complainant had attendance issues and had grouped up with the others to make sure he could not take any action for their poor attendance,” sources claimed.
In his bail application, the same claims have been made. The bail application also mentions that the complainants never approached the grievance cell or the internal complaints committee in JNU to deal with issues pertaining to sexual harassment. In the first FIR, the complainant had addressed the issue, claiming that she “feared for her personal and academic life” because of which she stayed quiet.
Atul Johri
Delhi Police spokesperson Depender Pathak said the statements of all complainants have been recorded under Section 164 CrPC. Pathak said police had opposed the bail plea, mentioning the apprehension of complainants regarding intimidation from the accused, who holds various authoritative positions in JNU.
Tensions had simmered on Monday as several hundred students led by the JNUSU protested outside Vasant Kunj (North) police station, demanding that police register eight separate FIRs in the case — one for each complainant. Police had, at the time, filed only one FIR, and had claimed that they affixed the complaints of seven women to the original FIR, registered under the name of a student at the School of Life Sciences.
The police had registered the first FIR on March 16 under IPC sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman).
On Tuesday morning, police registered seven more FIRs after undertaking a legal examination to ascertain if the case merits multiple FIRs.
“We have found that the case did merit multiple FIRs. This decision was reached after a legal examination. We have seen that in the multiple FIRs, there was the common theme of sexual harassment allegations against the professor,” Dumbere said.