JNUSU alleges violations in inquiry into sexual harassment complaint by 47 students

NEW DELHI: The JNUSU has alleged procedural violations in the inquiry into a sexual harassment complaint filed by 47 female students with varsity's Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) after a freshers' party. In a letter to Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) has accused the committee of diluting the case by treating it as an "individual complaint" rather than a collective grievance.

The union said 47 female students from the Centre for the Study of Social Systems (CSSS) on Wednesday filed a collective complaint with the ICC over alleged sexual harassment and violence during the CSSS freshers' party at the Convention Centre on Tuesday (October 22).

However, the complainants were informed that the Presiding Officer Vandana Mishra would not meet all the survivors together and asked them to nominate five representatives to present the case, the union said. During the ICC meeting on Thursday, four student representatives arrived late, taking advantage of which the ICC members tried to intimidate the lone complainant, pressuring her into a private deposition, the JNUSU claimed in its letter on Friday.

The union said this was an effort to break the collective nature of the complaint. "The survivors disagree with this because the complaint was filed as a collective, but they were trying to dilute this into five individual cases of harassment," the letter read.

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According to JNUSU, during the deposition, the complainant was reportedly asked "irrelevant and intimidating questions", such as, "Why didn't you go to your centre's chairperson first?" and "Who told you about the ICC process?" The letter further stated, "These questions do not concern the jurisdiction of the ICC, and were meant to threaten the survivors and get information from her about the case, to weaken our cause."

Union urged for ensure a fair and transparent inquiry process

The union also raised concerns that a staff member recorded a video of the complainant during the confidential session, compromising her anonymity. JNUSU representatives and CSSS students intervened, demanding that a JNUSU representative be allowed to sit in on the survivors' depositions, a restraining order be issued without naming the survivors, and that the complaint be treated as a collective grievance.

They also insisted that any videos taken during the confidential meeting be deleted immediately. However, Mishra reportedly rejected these requests and brought in external staff from the Campus Security Office (CSO), which the JNUSU claimed was an attempt to "shield" the accused.

"This was a clear case of victim-blaming, and an attempt to shield the perpetrators," the union stated, adding that it demanded Mishra's removal as the ICC Presiding Officer. In the letter, JNUSU called for strict action against those responsible for the alleged procedural violations.

The union also urged the university administration to ensure a fair and transparent inquiry process, advocating for a student representative from the Gender Sensitization Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) to be present during all proceedings.

There was no immediate response on the allegations from JNU vice-chancellor. ICC Presiding Officer Mishra said the committee "follows all procedures".