St Stephen's row: Unavailability of ICC members hampering probe

The Internal Complaints Committee probe into St Stephen's College's molestation row is moving at a slow pace 'due to unavailability' of all the panel members at a given point of time, a UGC official who visited the campus was informed on Monday.

The official visited the campus and met the ICC members following directions from Union HRD ministry which had asked the UGC to expedite the probe into the molestation row which had triggered an outrage on and off the campus.

"The official talked to them (ICC) as the committee was moving slow. The ICC members said that absence of some or the other official at a given point of time is further slowing down investigation," sources said. Same reason was given when the official asked about a timeline to complete the probe, they added.

The ICC investigation, which had started in October last year when the student had raised her complaint with the college authorities, had so far failed to make any headway into the matter.

During a visit to the campus, the UGC official Sunita Siwach is understood to have taken into account the fact that the laboratory was not sufficient to cater to a PhD scholar.

In her FIR, the student has alleged that she was molested in a laboratory by an assistant professor of the Chemistry department, who is supervising her research.

"The UGC official also took note of the fact that the accused professor whose arrest has been stayed by Delhi High Court till August 17, was suffering from 85% disability," they said.