Jadavpur University has barred a non-teaching employee from entering its campus after a first-year undergraduate accused him of sexual harassment inside Technology Bhavan, with the university’s Internal Complaints Committee now examining the complaint. The alleged incident took place at about 3.20pm on Friday, according to the complaint and a senior university official quoted by PTI.
Vice-chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharjee directed the university registrar to prevent the employee from entering the campus until the inquiry is completed. He also instructed the registrar to refer the complaint to the ICC for investigation and necessary action.
The employee is attached to the university’s Mathematics Department. According to the complaint submitted to the vice-chancellor, three students were sitting on a staircase on the seventh floor of Technology Bhavan when the employee approached them and asked them to leave. Two students went downstairs, while the employee allegedly asked the complainant for her personal details and took her to the sixth floor.
The student alleged that the employee showed her several locked rooms and said students were not permitted to enter those areas because laptops had previously been stolen. She further alleged that he touched her inappropriately as she was preparing to leave. The student managed to leave the area, according to the complaint.
The students later confronted the employee, who denied the accusation and demanded evidence. He reportedly said the matter was being exaggerated, maintained that he had kept considerable distance from the student and claimed that he had informed security personnel and the department after finding students in a restricted area.
The complaint has also raised questions about safety infrastructure inside the academic building. In their representation to the vice-chancellor, the students alleged that the sixth and seventh floors lacked CCTV surveillance. The reported absence of monitoring in those areas has become part of the wider concern being examined after the complaint.
The university’s interim campus ban does not establish the allegations, which remain subject to the ICC inquiry. The next formal step is the investigation by the internal complaints mechanism, after which the university is expected to consider the findings and any action recommended.
