IIM Indore student faces sexual harassment probe; steps down from placement cell

INDORE: A female student of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore has levelled sexual harassment charge against a student-member of the placement cell, prompting the Internal Complaints Committee to launch a probe, a top official of the business school said on Thursday.

The student accused of sexual harassment was asked by the institute's ICC to step down from the IIM's Placement Committee and he has complied with the directive, he said. The local unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) had sent a memorandum to the IIM director alleging a student on the placement committee sexually harassed "some female students" during an off-campus event.

The memorandum demanded that the IIM Indore management ensure a fair, transparent, and timely investigation into the allegation, while providing mental, legal, and administrative support to the victims .

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Dissolve current placement committee, demands ABVP

The ABVP memorandum also demanded that the current Placement Committee be dissolved and a new one be formed to protect the investigation from "pressure and influence."

IIM Indore Director Himanshu Rai told PTI that the ICC has initiated an investigation after receiving a complaint from a female student alleging she was sexually harassed by a fellow student, who is also a Placement Committee member, during a programme held outside the campus.

"Immediately after receiving the complaint, the ICC asked the student concerned to step down from the Placement Committee. He is no longer on the committee," he stated. The director said the female student's allegation of sexual harassment was being investigated in accordance with the Vishaka guidelines set by the Supreme Court.

These guidelines were established to provide a framework for preventing and investigating sexual harassment complaints at workplaces. Under the framework, Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs) have been set up at workplaces to hear and resolve complaints of sexual harassment of women staffers.

These committees have been formed under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. Workplaces with 10 or more employees are required to form such a committee.