A foreign student from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has been accused of allegedly harassing a woman teacher. He has been charged with sexual harassment and criminal intimidation, following the assistant professor's allegation that he had sent her obscene photos and messages and also tried to touch her inappropriately several times, despite her warnings.
The professor additionally alleged that the student had targeted and threatened her inside and outside the BHU campus over the past two months, which, she feared, could lead to an attempt on her life. She claimed that he had also ransacked her office with the intention to terrorise her, as per a report by IANS.
"He also tried to sully my character in public. I had complained against him in my department in the past. The teachers' council then banned his entry into the department. Despite that, he would come and insult me," she alleged.
The teacher further claimed that she went into depression because of the repeated harassment and her problem increased as the university administration offered little help. According to BHU Chief Proctor Abhimanyu Singh, the teacher complained for the first time a month ago and her department was asked to form a committee to look into it.
"University guards were deployed to protect her, but a few days later, the department mentioned that the situation has become normal. Guards were withdrawn then. But the accused student indulged in mischievous acts again," he said. "She filed a complaint on Wednesday (February 22) and it was forwarded to police to lodge an FIR," Singh added.
The FIR contains copies of her complaints to BHU officials and clips of messages from the student on her phone. "An investigation is underway," inspector Ashwini Pandey said, as mentioned by IANS.
