An assistant professor at Odisha’s Utkal University, a leading state-run institution, was suspended Wednesday following allegations of sexually harassing a female student in his office last month.
The suspension came after an internal complaints committee submitted a report based on the woman’s complaint. The committee had been formed to investigate the allegations. The professor did not respond to calls or messages seeking comment, The Indian Express reported.
According to an order issued by the registrar on Wednesday: “In pursuance of the order dated September 18 of the Vice Chancellor, Utkal University, which follows the recommendation of the Internal Complaint Committee probing the alleged harassment of a girl student, (the professor) is hereby placed under suspension with immediate effect.”
The committee, made up of university faculty and an external legal expert, held several meetings and gathered evidence before finalising its report. According to a senior university official, the report found prima facie evidence of molestation against the assistant professor. The professor has been suspended and ordered not to leave the campus without the Vice Chancellor’s permission.
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In her complaint to the department’s sexual harassment cell, the student said the incident took place at around 2 pm on August 16. She had gone to collect a book with the professor’s permission when he allegedly molested her. She claimed he asked her to sit close to him, touched her inappropriately, and held her waist when she tried to resist. As she attempted to escape, she alleged he pulled her legs and made inappropriate comments, telling her not to disclose the incident.
The student said she was “mentally broken” after the incident and had not spoken to anyone about it, including her parents, as her mother was unwell. She requested the case be handled with “utmost confidentiality and empathy” and pledged full cooperation in the investigation.
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On September 17, Odisha Governor Raghubar Das, the university’s chancellor, intervened, directing the Vice Chancellor to submit a factual and action taken report.
Utkal University, Odisha’s first university, was founded in August 1943 and initially operated from a single room at Ravenshaw College in Cuttack. The Utkal University Act of 1943 was later amended in 1947 to define its jurisdiction, which was expanded to cover all of Odisha in 1950. The university offers undergraduate, postgraduate, MPhil, and PhD programs.