Premier design institute National Institute of Design (NID) has also been hit by the #MeToo wave, with senior faculty member Krishnesh Mehta being asked to leave on 5 October and also barred from entering any of the NID campuses. The action was taken against Mehta after a group of students alleged “undesirable and out of syllabus references to sexuality and sexual relations and behaviour” by him and an enquiry committee found substance in it, reported Ahmedabad Mirror on Saturday, 3 November.
Mehta had been a faculty member of interdisciplinary studies and industrial design for the last 25 years. He was to be relieved from his position after the committee found the sexual harassment allegations against him to be genuine. His response to a show cause notice sent by the committee was also found to be inadequate, reported Ahmedabad Mirror . However, Mehta submitted his resignation on 5 October, following which his employment was terminated immediately.
Mehta, in a letter to the institute, reportedly “expressed his regret and apologised for putting the Institute to such awkward situation”, said the report.
This was the second such complaint that was received against Mehta, reported The Indian Express. After the first instance, he was reportedly punished by withholding his increment.
“Both the times there was no complaint of physical harassment or one to one harassment but exactly the similar nature that is using sexual flavours while teaching in the class amounting to sexual harassment. After he submitted a written apology, he was served a punishment of stoppage of one increment and was also issued a strong warning that any such conduct in future will be dealt with sternly. So, this time we decided to send a strong message even to the senior faculty of the institute that zero tolerance will be adopted against such nonsense actions,”NID Director Pradyumna Vyas told The Indian Express.
Mehta has now been banned from entering campus except when called for special official matters. The institute has also decided not to involve him in any administrative or academic matters.
After the second complaint, an enquiry committee was set up, which came to the conclusion that the complaints of the group of students were genuine. It found that Mehta’s references, conduct and behaviour were not relevant to educational functions and that he was guilty of sexual harassment.
Vyas also denied that the matter was being hidden and that Mehta was being protected. He claimed that the incident had not been disclosed on public forums since it is a “sensitive issue”.
(With inputs from The Indian Express and Ahmedabad Mirror.)
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