Jadavpur University VC asks registrar to act upon student's sexual harassment complaint

Kolkata: Jadavpur University Vice-Chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharjee has directed the registrar to act upon a sexual harassment complaint filed by a first-year undergraduate student and debar the accused non-teaching employee from entering the campus till an inquiry by the internal complaints committee (ICC) is completed, a senior university official said on Sunday.

According to the complaint submitted by the student to the vice-chancellor, the incident took place around 3.20 pm on Friday on the sixth floor of Technology Bhavan, where the employee, attached to the university's Mathematics Department, allegedly behaved inappropriately with the student, the official said.

Taking note of the allegations, Bhattacharjee said the matter was being referred to the ICC for an appropriate inquiry, the official said. Receiving the complaint, the VC, in a note to the registrar, said that the accused be debarred from entering the campus and the complaint be sent to the ICC for investigation and necessary action, he said.

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Employee takes student to sixth floor

According to the complaint, three students were sitting on the staircase of the seventh floor when the employee asked them to vacate the area. While two of them went downstairs, he allegedly approached the complainant, sought her personal details and subsequently took her to the sixth floor, where he showed her some locked rooms, explaining that students were not allowed there because laptops had earlier been stolen, the official said, quoting the complaint.

However, as she was preparing to leave, the employee allegedly inappropriately touched her, and the student managed to escape, the complaint said. The complainant alleged that when the students subsequently confronted the employee, he denied the charges and demanded evidence, while claiming that the matter was being blown out of proportion.

The staffer claimed that he was being falsely implicated and had kept considerable distance from the girl while speaking, while asserting that the students were sitting in a restricted area. He said he had subsequently informed the security personnel and the department concerned about the matter.

The students, in their representation to the VC, raised concerns over security arrangements inside Technology Bhavan, alleging that the sixth and seventh floors do not have CCTV surveillance facilities, the official added.