Himachal engineering college principal suspended over sexual harassment charges

SHIMLA: The director-cum-principal of Bandla Hydro Engineering College in Himachal Pradesh's Bilapsur district who was arrested on charges of sexual harassment has been placed under suspension, Technical Education Minister Rajesh Dharmani said Tuesday.

Himanshu Monga (51) is accused of causing physical and mental abuse to female students and sending inappropriate calls and messages. The principal was suspended after a committee constituted by the technical education department to probe allegations against him submitted its report, Dharmani said.

The minister said such incidents should not happen and the government will take strict action in such cases. Several students have accused Monga of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour and also produced messages sent by him to the three-member committee investigating the allegations.

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The panel began the probe on April 21 after a former student of Sundernagar Engineering College lodged a complaint against Monga on the Samagra e-Samadhaan portal on April 8. The complainant alleged that when she was a student in Sundernagar Engineering College, Monga, who was then a senior faculty member at the college, had behaved inappropriately with the students.

The issue escalated further on May 22 the students held a protest demanding his immediate arrest after a video surfaced online that purportedly showed him trying to inappropriately touch a hospitalised female student under the blanket.

The alleged incident took place in March 2024, police said. Monga was then arrested and booked under Section 354 A (sexual harassment) of IPC. The accused principal is currently on bail. Following Monga's arrest, several students have come forward against him. They said that if they did not respond to the principal's calls, he would threaten them with slashing their marks. He would also ask them to meet him in his office, and when they would turn up, behave inappropriately.