The Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DME) been sitting on multiple sexual harassment complaints against head of Oral Pathology department, Government Dental College of Chennai, with no action initiated against him so far.
The inquiry process, between the DME and the college, has dragged on for a year during which time a senior assistant professor at the department, who was the first to raise a complaint against the man last year, died by suicide this January.
With the reasons for the suicide remaining unclear, former postgraduate (PG )students and staff that The New Indian Express spoke to recalled sordid tales of abuse at the hands of the Head of Department (HoD) for Oral Pathology that span across verbal abuse, casteist and sexual comments directed at female PG students and asking students to spit on him.
"Our head of department always speaks in a demeaning way and abuses us verbally using profanity," stated the complaint raised with the management by the senior assistant professor in the department of oral pathology at the government dental college on March 23, 2024.
Even with the inquiry yet to be completed a year after the complaint and the file pending with the director of medical education, the professor died by suicide in January this year.
The New Indian Express learnt that while the college has an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), the management did not refer her complaint to the committee. College officials said that since the professor asked them to wait until more students came forward with complaints, six months had lapsed from the date of the incident and the complaint could no longer be investigated by the ICC.
Apart from casually tossing out offensive remarks such as `nee ellam oru pombalaya' and 'maramanda', the HoD would record audios and videos of female students without their consent, as per the complaint.
The professor had said that the HoD had shot her video when she went to his room, making her extremely uncomfortable. He also made a habit of shouting insults at students and humiliating them. He would also sit in the research microscope room outside his cabin until well into the afternoon every day, watching us and just listening to us, she had said.
Following the complaint, other former PG students also filed a sexual harassment complaint against the HOD. One of the former PG students at the college said she was subjected to verbal and emotional abuse, subjecting her to comments about her physical appearance.
"He told me that my lower body is larger than my torso and that my legs are bent as a result of my excess weight. He has also made comments about my skin tone, colour and the scars on my legs," the former student said.
She recalled him saying, "You look like this now, I wonder what will become of you when you become pregnant."
She also added that he would make casteist and vulgar remarks apart from engaging in inappropriate behaviour.
"He used to come close to me. Put his face too close to mine and ask me to spit on him, she said in her complaint. Most PG students had been at the receiving end of such behaviour," the former student told The New Indian Express, adding that many of them endured the torment for fear of being forcefully failed in the internal exam.
Another former PG student in her complaint said he always wanted to know whether she would try to kill herself.
"Maybe he was scared that I would attempt suicide because of his behaviour towards me. Many times he has asked me, `nee suicide panna matiye maa?' (You will not die by suicide, no?). However, on another day, he told me that if he was in my shoes, he would run home, get a rope, tie it to the fan and die, she said.
"But you are still standing here shamelessly, listening to my scolding," she recalled him saying.
A faculty member, on condition of anonymity, said, "I don't know why the management took so long to finish the inquiry. He is still behaving in the same manner with the students, and their ordeal continues."
Speaking to The New Indian Express, S Premkumar, Principal, Government Dental College, said, "I have ordered an inquiry and have instructed an ICC committee member and another faculty to investigate. Initially we had to wait, as the first complainant wanted more people to come forward. Since it also included former PG students, the two members inquired into the complaints and submitted the report. Then the DME sent it back, asking to probe the alleged offender also."
By then the inquiry faculty went on leave due to medical reasons and, after coming back, submitted the report to the DME in March 2025. We gave the first report on 31 July, 2024, and it was returned to us asking us to inquire the respondent also on 13 September 2024.
Sudha Ramalingam, lawyer, said the ICC committee can investigate complaints that were reported within six months of the crime. The inquiry should be completed in 90 days after the complaint is raised.
"Every institution should have an ICC committee, and such complaints should not be taken lightly," she said.
