New Delhi: A PhD student of St Stephen's College has accused a professor of sexual harassment and has filed a police complaint against him.
Police said that chemistry professor Satish Kumar molested the victim on October 15, 2013.
The student has also accused Prof. Kumar of stalking her, passing lewd remarks and making inappropriate physical contact for months before the incident. Kumar once even threatened to “pour sulfuric acid on her if she didn't wear a yellow sari to college”, the complaint read.
In her complaint, the student also accused the college principal Valson Thampu of protecting the faculty member when the matter was brought to his notice.
The woman stopped going to college after the incident but Kumar kept calling her, stalked her on social media and sent other students to check on her. She finally confided in her parents and the family confronted the professor. Kumar apologised and “promised never to repeat such behaviour the harassment continued, said the victim.
She also accused Kumar of blocking her monthly stipend of Rs 18,000.
In the complaint, the victim said that her parents took the complaint to Thampu in December 2014 but he discouraged her from filing a sexual harassment case and said it was a “purely academic problem”.
Thampu gave her two choices- “go to Delhi University's grievance redressal cell and jeopardise my degree or term the issue an academic problem”.
The student approached the grievance redressal cell, which started looking into the matter on January 15. The cell has not yet revealed its findings and held its last meeting on May 19.
Realising the slow pace of grievance redressal cell, the student approached the police on Friday. A magisterial hearing in the case will be held on Saturday.
