Youth held for alleged sexual harassment of IIT Madras intern

CHENNAI: A 22-year-old man has been arrested allegedly for sexually harassing an intern at the IITM (Madras), police said on Saturday. The arrested was working at a food court inside the institute and he allegedly sexually harassed a 20-year-old intern on the campus on June 25 night, police said.

Taking suo moto cognizance of the offence, the National Commission for Women chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar wrote to Tamil Nadu DGP calling for a fair and time-bound investigation under relevant provisions of BNS, 2023.

“NCW has also directed the authorities to ensure the victim receives immediate medical and psychological support,” the Commission said in a post on the social media platform X on Saturday. The incident occurred around 7.30 pm when the woman intern was walking alone in the campus. According to Kotturpuram police, the man who held a stick went close to her and pulled her hair. Immediately, the intern raised an alarm.

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The security personnel on the campus rushed to her rescue. The police later identified the suspect as one Roshan Kumar, a native of Maharashtra, who was working at a food court in IIT (M). He was arrested and remanded on June 26.

Further investigation is on. Meanwhile, responding to the incident, the IIT (M) stated that an unfortunate incident took place at the IIT Madras campus on June 25, when a contractual employee of a vendor operating on the campus "misbehaved" with a woman student, visiting from other institute.

“The girl raised an alarm and the culprit was nabbed by the institute security and handed over to the local police. IIT (M) has a zero tolerance policy towards sexual harassment and we are committed to provide a safe and secure campus to all,” the institute said in a statement.