(Trigger warning: Sexual harassment.)
“We received an anonymous complaint from students of Sirsa’s University School For Graduate Studies (USGS). There are 500 girls in the department. But that is certainly not the number of complainants," Sirsa SP Vikrant Bhushan told The Quint on Wednesday, 10 January, on allegations of sexual harassment raised by several girl students against the Dean of a Haryana college.
Earlier this week, an anonymous letter, allegedly written by several girl students belonging to USGS affiliated to Chaudhary Devi Lal University in Haryana accused professor Sushil Kumar of "indecent conduct and sexual harassment".
Though various mainstream media outlets reported that 500 girls have accused Kumar of sexual harassment, SP Vikrant Bhushan told The Quint that “it seems far from reality.”
The anonymous letter, a copy of which was accessed by The Quint, stated:
“Dr Sushil Kumar called us girls separately and called us alone in the bathroom of his office and after dismissing all the staff members, he touched our private parts and did obscene acts with us. When we protested, he threatened us.”
The letter dated 30 December 2023 and addressed to Chaudhary Devi Lal University Vice Chancellor Ajmer Malik, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar as well as the Prime Minister’s Office, demanded “concrete action and high-level investigation with immediate effect” against the professor. The university's Registrar, Dr Rajesh Kumar Bansal, had reportedly confirmed receipt of the anonymous letter.
“Till now, we have had no evidence to substantiate the allegations in the anonymous letter. There have been no complaints against the said professor in the past."Sirsa SP Vikrant Bhushan told The Quint
The Quint reached out to professor Sushil Kumar, but he categorically refused to comment on the matter. Meanwhile, SP Bhushan confirmed that no first information report (FIR) has been filed in the matter yet.
What Had the Anonymous Letter Alleged?
In the letter, the complainants accused Kumar of not only misbehaving with girl students but also destroying all evidence.
“He threatens to expel all the victims from the university. During exams, he lures us with more marks in the papers and practicals... he has selectively deleted CCTV footage from his office,” the complainants alleged in the letter.
They demanded that Kumar be suspended immediately – and the whole matter be investigated by a retired judge of a high court.
The complainants also accused VC Ajmer Malik of not being able to take strict action against Dean Kumar because of the “blind faith” he has on the accused, as well as the professor's “political patronage and support from Chautala House, Sirsa.”
Meanwhile, VC Malik told reporters that the seven-member Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), which deals with issues related to molestation and other gender-related grievances, is investigating the matter.
“The ICC has dealt with similar cases that were reported from the history and law departments in the past. After gathering evidence, the ICC took appropriate action against the accused,” the vice chancellor told reporters last week.
Reassuring action in the current case too, he said that the university follows a “zero-tolerance policy” against offenders and invited the stakeholders in the case to come forward during the internal probe.
No Evidence to Substantiate Allegations: Police
Even as the anonymous letter came to light, the police formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under ASP Deepti Garg IPS Batch 2020 to probe the matter, ADGP Shrikant Jadhav told reporters.
Meanwhile, SP Vikrant Bhushan told The Quint, “We have interrogated over 300 students and faculty members, including PhD scholars who worked directly under professor Sushil Kumar, in a safe and conducive environment. None of them have corroborated the complaint in the anonymous letter.”
He added that there have been no complaints against the accused in the past.
Bhushan asserted that the veracity of the allegations cannot be confirmed until the investigation concludes. “Till now, we have had no evidence to substantiate the allegations in the letter,” he added.
Meanwhile, the university's registrar Bansal stated that the university has handed over CCTV footage of all cameras in the vicinity to the police for investigation. “It usually backs up footage dating 20-30 days. If it is continuous, then there are no deletions but if the probe reveals otherwise, appropriate action will be taken against those responsible for it,” Bansal said.
He added that even though the anonymous letter does not mention specifics such as date/time/names, but the allegations are "serious and must be probed".
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