IIT Ropar sacks assistant professor accused of sexual harassment

The Indian Institute of Technology Ropar (IIT Ropar) has sacked an assistant professor accused in a sexual harassment case, sources confirmed. The assistant professor, from the Department of Physics, was on a probation period of one year.

According to an official statement, assistant professor Lakhan Bainsla joined IIT Ropar in January last year and was on a one-year notice period. Stating his conduct as “not satisfactory”, IIT Ropar decided to dismiss his services, the notice read.

“Dr Lakhan Bainsla, Assistant Professor is hereby terminated from the services of this Institute with immediate effect from 24.07.2026 (A/N). Dr. Bainsla is required to clear his No Dues within a period of one week,” IIT Ropar said in the notice.

Also read ‘Part of culture’? IIT Ropar PhD scholars say fear keeps harassment cases buried, rarely reach ICC

Harassment cases at IIT Ropar

The engineering institute has also asked Bainsla to complete his deus formality within one week.

Recently, a PhD student at IIT Ropar reported a sexual assault incident, stating that she was “mentally tortured and sexually assaulted” by her supervisor.

After the student did not get ample assistance from the engineering institute, the PhD student approached a community of researchers on “collapse of the academic boundaries”. She also shared a pdf of her communication with the accused from August till October 2025 as evidence of being harassed.

Alleging that the professor misused his professional relationship for sexual interest, the PhD student said that the professor "weaponised” his academic authority and tried to impact her research.

Following which, IIT Ropar placed the accused on "forced leave" with immediate effect and necessary arrangement were made to ensure that the student could continue her academic work without any disruption, fear or pressure of any kind.