The allegation of sexual harassment by a visiting US student against a faculty member of the St Stephen’s College has once again brought to the fore the grimy side of the elite university.
NEW DELHI: The allegation of sexual harassment by a visiting US student against a senior faculty member of the Delhi University’s (DU’s) prestigious St Stephen’s College has once again brought to the fore the grimy side of the elite university with a student strength of about 3 lakh.
The 20-year-old US girl was in India to study Sanskrit as part of the DU’s student exchange programme. She reported the matter to the college authorities on Thursday. Sources said the girl has left for the US since.
This is the second time in the past two months that a DU student has levelled sexual harassment charges against a faculty member. In late October, almost 15 male students of the varsity’s Ramjas College had filed a similar complaint against college vice-principal BN Ray. The college complaints committee of the DU ordered Ray’s suspension a few days later.
The St Stephen’s incident, according to Dr Tripta Wahi, a senior faculty member at the varsity’s Hindu College and convener of the Forum for Democratic Struggle, exposes only the “tip of the iceberg”.
Wahi said, “The DU has a long history of sexual harassment. It is deeply entrenched in the university and at all levels of college – be it appointment of faculty members, student admissions or even appointment of karmacharis”
Though many feel Wahi’s allegations are extreme, a majority of students agree that sexual abuse is a “common scene” in the university, especially on the North Campus, which is home to many elite colleges, including St Stephen’s and Ramjas.
However, students feel the sexual harassment complaint committees formed in colleges according to the DU Ordinance XVD has given them a “route to place their complaints on record and seek justice”.
“Molestation of girl students is very common, at least on the North Campus. It’s at times scary to move out alone as you never know what awaits you on the university’s roads. However, with colleges setting up complaint committees, students at least have a platform to raise their voice,” said Tega Subba (name changed), a St Stephen’s student.
While most representatives of sexual harassment complain committees refuse to discuss the kind and number of complaints received by them, calling it an “internal matter of the college”, students claim the setting up of these committees has exposed the mucky side of the varsity.
“The fact that colleges need a full-fledged cell to deal with complaints of sexual harassment proves how serious the issue is,” said Anita Shrivastav (name changed), a student of Miranda House.
y_puneet@dnaindia.net
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