The professor allegedly invited the international post-graduate student to his residence on the pretext of sharing a book.
Published Dec 03, 2022 | 4:46 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 03, 2022 | 5:46 PM
Representational image.
The University of Hyderabad (UoH) on Saturday, 3 December, suspended a senior professor after he was arrested for allegedly sexually harassing a post-graduate international student.
The Cyberabad Metropolitan Police arrested the accused on Saturday morning amidst growing protests by students on the Union government-run university’s campus.
“An internal meeting of the administration decided to place the accused professor under suspension till the inquiry is completed,” university Registrar Dr Devesh Nigam told South First.
Meanwhile, the police said the student complained that the Hindi professor from UoH, popularly called HCU, identified as Ravi Ranjan, invited her to his residence on the pretext of sharing a book and sexually assaulted her.
Agency reports put the professor’s age at 62.
“The professor, who was alone, urged her to consume alcohol and tried to take advantage of the situation,” Ch Raghunandan, Assistant Commissioner of Police in Madhapur, told South First.
Meanwhile, a few students claimed that the incident happened on the university campus.
The student has been pursuing a Master’s degree from the Department of Hindi under the UoH’s School of Humanities.
Earlier, the students took out a protest, demanding the HCU professor’s suspension over the sexual assault. They alleged that the university delayed reporting the matter to the police.
“We have been at the health centre since around 10:30 pm on Friday. The survivor was brought to the centre and the administration was repeatedly asked to visit the facility. But no one came. The Director of International Students and Dean of Students’ Welfare reached the centre only after 11:30 pm,” Archana, a student, told South First.
The students said the registrar did not visit the centre despite making repeated calls.
The professor was arrested amid a protest by students. (Supplied)
“They were not ready to call the police and had no clue what to do. Then when the students protested, they informed the police at 12:30 am, and the police arrived at 1 am. Even then, women officers were not with them. They came only by 1:30 am,” she added.
The students said the university delayed alerting the police. (Supplied)
The police said the international student was invited to the professor’s residence.
Students said though the university has allotted him a cottage on the campus, he stayed at his residence in Kondapur.
“Based on the complaint by the University authorities, we have registered a case for outraging the modesty of the woman and arrested the accused professor,” officer Raghunandan said.
The police are in the process of recording the statement of the girl, who speaks only her mother tongue. “The accused will be produced before a court after we record her statement,” the officer said.
“She cannot speak Hindi, English or Telugu. We are recording her statement with the help of a translator,” he added.
The police have booked the professor under sections 354 (assault with intent to outrage women’s modesty) and 354 A (punishment for sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code.
Students demanded the setting up of a probe panel. (Supplied)
The Students Union in a statement said that “the registrar ignored all calls and preferred to sleep peacefully at his home while the student community gathered in support of the student on 2 December night. There was a deliberate delay and passing around of responsibilities by the concerned authorities [sic].”
On Saturday, 3 December morning, the students blocked the university’s main entrance and raised slogans demanding action against the HCU professor over the sexual assault incident.
“After we received a call from her, we contacted her previous professor in her country, who after speaking to her, informed us that she was assaulted by a UoH professor,” Abhishek Nandan, President of the UoH Students Union, told South First.
Nandan said the students are demanding regular status updates from the registrar besides setting up an internal inquiry committee. “We also want an assurance of immediate action if such an incident repeats on campus,” he said.
#Hyderabad: @HydUniv professor arrested for alleged sexual assault of a foreign student on 2 Dec Protests erupted at the #HCU.
"Admin delayed action & initially wanted to avoid the legal actions. They just wanted to deal with health of student" a student to @TheSouthfirst pic.twitter.com/5A6F7uqppY
— Ajay Tomar (@ajaytomarasks) December 3, 2022
