New Delhi: The decision by Banaras Hindu University (BHU) authorities, to reinstate a professor who had been suspended on sexual harassment charges by no fewer than 36 students, has sparked protests by students on campus since Saturday.
Zoology professor Shail Kumar Choubey had been suspended last October. Indian Express has reported that the decision to reinstate him was taken by BHU’s executive council, headed by university Vice-Chancellor Rakesh Bhatnagar.
The decision to revoke his suspension came in June this year, reported News18. June, 2019 is also when NDTV reported that the probe into Choubey’s offences began at BHU.
Students at BHU’s Singh Dwar continue the protest for the second day demanding suspension of professor SK Chaubey accused of sexual harassment. BHU administration, in all its might, has been trying to quell this protest by threatening students with disciplinary action. pic.twitter.com/wvuRCTQIYG
— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) September 15, 2019
The Express report quoted Bhatnagar as explaining that the suspension order was intended to last only until the internal complaints committee completed its inquiry and that Choubey would automatically begin teaching now. Sources in the body, quoted but unnamed in the report, told the newspaper that the committee’s report had, in fact, held that Choubey was a repeat offender who is “not fit to teach”.
Also read: BHU Debars 11 Students for Leading 2017 Protests Against the Administration
Even though Bhatnagar was quoted by news organisations as stressing that the allegations would be made part of Choubey’s service record and that this would amount to a “major punishment,” students are not convinced. They have demanded that he be suspended and an FIR be registered against him.
Choubey was accused of “passing vulgar comments and making obscene gestures” at girl students during a study tour to Odisha, reported NDTV. Other reports noted that he had been accused of exhibiting similar lewd behaviour in class too.
As noted by Tanya Jha in her August report on a research scholar’s alleged harassment in the hands of a BHU dean for LiveWire, BHU has had a chequered history of cases of sexual harassment against professors and students alike.
Mentioning the Choubey case, Jha also noted that in 2017, 11 students of the college wrote a letter to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports accusing Rajeev Mishra – programme officer at National Service Scheme – of sexual harassment. However, he denied the allegations. “In 2016, a research scholar allegedly raped his junior in the name of helping her with her thesis…” she also wrote.