Published Nov 13, 2026 | 4:29 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 13, 2026 | 4:30 PM
Aldas Janaiah, Vice-Chancellor of PJTAU
Synopsis: An assistant professor at Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University alleged that Vice-Chancellor Aldas Janaiah sexually harassed her and threatened to transfer her after she refused to comply with his demands. Protests have gripped the campus over administrative inaction, and the state government launched an inquiry 16 days after the survivor submitted a complaint to the DGP.
Pooja (name changed), an assistant professor at Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University (PJTAU), is currently pursuing a PhD at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University in Hisar. She is on study leave to complete her PhD, which is in its final stage.
The 38-year-old mother of two sought a leave extension to wrap up her thesis. She visited Vice-Chancellor (VC) Aldas Janaiah’s office earlier this year.
That’s when the trouble began, she told South First.
The VC allegedly told his office staff to block the door and restrict entry for other visitors, after which he made several inappropriate comments that Pooja described as extremely uncomfortable.
“Leave your husband. Keep him like a licence, in name only,” he allegedly told her. After a short while, she got up, saying it was very late, and left.
“I was very scared. I felt tense. I have been at the University since 2014. He has known me since before I got married. I confided in him about personal and professional matters; he was like a father figure to me. I could not process what I was hearing,” she said.
What began more than 10 months ago as an uncomfortable situation spiralled into sustained harassment, abuse, and intimidation, alleged Pooja. With limited support and few recourse mechanisms on campus, the assistant professor said she finally mustered the courage to submit a complaint to the state’s Director General of Police (DGP) on 26 October.
An alleged delay in registering the first information report and administrative apathy led her to publicly name the abuser and detail the harassment at a sensational press meet at the Hyderabad Press Club on 7 November. The PJTAU campus has since erupted in protests by faculty members, students, and organisations supporting the survivor.
Sixteen days after the complaint to the DGP, the state government has finally announced a committee to probe allegations against the VC.
As Pooja left the VC’s chamber after the exchange that left her stunned, Janaiah allegedly told her he would be at the Hisar campus soon for a convention of VCs from across the country.
On 4 January, Janaiah called Pooja late at night while he was in Hisar. She answered the call without a second thought, as she would for her own father.
She said the VC made inappropriate remarks once again, asking to spend time with her. She said he used the phrase “biological needs”, and told her, “If you had been born 20 years earlier, I would have married you; I like you that much.”
Pooja said the call grew more insistent the next day. “I want to spend some time with you. In Hyderabad everyone knows us; here no one will,” she quoted him. He asked her to meet him early on the morning of 6 January.
Frightened, Pooja took a PhD colleague along when she went to meet him while other people were also present on campus.
On the night of 6 January, he called again, she said. Pooja did not pick up, but rang back about 15 minutes later. Pooja said he insisted that she go to Delhi with him at least once. She said she had work and that her guide would not allow it.
Pooja also mentioned she had been speaking to her husband. He grew irritated, she alleged.
Her study leave ended in June, and she rejoined the university. The harassment continued, Pooja said. She alleged that the VC threatened to transfer her if she didn’t “prove” herself.
The survivor told South First that several senior faculty members on the campus discouraged her from seeking action.
She was told Janaiah was politically and financially powerful and that nobody would believe her. Some staff members allegedly even asked her to “entertain” the VC during official events and functions on campus.
Pooja said that there has been a continuous effort to spread misinformation about her on campus, with misogynistic claims passed around in the form of gossip.
“It took me a long time to find courage. So I asked myself, as an assistant professor, if I can’t fight for my own self-respect and dignity, what is the point of my education? Why do I need this job?” she said.
That one question kept her going.
A major hurdle to seeking recourse on campus was the lack of an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC). The campus has only a ‘Women’s Protection Cell ’, which has not been proactive, Pooja alleged. Several complaints were left unresolved, and the university failed to comply with POSH [Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013] laws, she said.
The major breaking point came on 11 September, when she was transferred to the College of Food Science and Technology in Rudrur, Nizamabad district.
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Pooja said she did not know whom to approach or how. But she knew she had to lodge a complaint. She first took her complaint to the Women Safety Wing of the Telangana Police and later to DGP CV Anand on 26 October. The DGP reportedly assured action and directed Women Safety personnel to act immediately.
When nothing came of it, she wrote to the Governor, also the university’s Chancellor, about a week later.
Meanwhile, the pressure to withdraw the complaint began in the first week of November, when people, reportedly on behalf of the VC, visited her home. She was reportedly offered a posting back in Hyderabad if she withdrew her complaint.
Her press conference on 7 November set off protests on the Rajendranagar campus. Teaching and non-teaching staff joined the students in a rally and marched to the VC’s chamber. The Telangana Agricultural Scientists Association (TASA) extended support to the survivor and also joined the demonstrations.
The protesters want an impartial inquiry, Janaiah’s immediate removal to prevent influence, and the chief minister’s intervention. They said the agitation and legal fight would continue until the survivor gets justice.
Female employees and students asked who would protect women on the campus if the head of the university himself faced such a charge. Former ministers and BRS leaders Satyavathi Rathod, Sabitha Indra Reddy, and Sunith Laxma Reddy visited the protesters and demanded Janaiah’s dismissal. Police detained BRS Rajendra Nagar in-charge Karthik Reddy on the campus before he could join the protest.
On Tuesday, 10 November, Pooja lodged a written complaint to the Rajendranagar police, accusing Janaiah of sexual harassment and intimidation. Police took her complaint but refused to acknowledge it or register an FIR, she alleged.
Late that night, students gathered outside the station and protested past midnight, demanding that police register a case. Telangana Rakshana Sena president K Kavitha also joined the students outside the station in the early hours of 11 November. Several students were detained but were released by morning.
Police reportedly told them they were under pressure and could not act on the complaint.
In a letter to DGP CV Anand on Tuesday, 10 November, Janaiah refuted the charge and called the allegations baseless and defamatory. He described them as a conspiracy by people unhappy with the administrative reforms he had introduced.
He alleged that Pooja was upset over her routine transfer to Rudrur on 11 September, and questioned why no formal complaint was made earlier. He urged the police to examine WhatsApp chats, call records and other digital evidence between them, and sought a thorough inquiry.
Pooja has pushed back on the question of delay, saying it should not matter when she chose to speak. She has screenshots of the late-night calls, and said she wants no apology, only punishment under the law.
South First has seen the screenshots of the WhatsApp calls the VC made on the dates the survivor stated.
“The transfer was definitely an attempt to get back at me for not complying. Many PhD students and those who went on study leave were either immediately reinstated or transferred once they got back. Why did only my transfer come out of the blue?” she questioned. She said the decision to speak up was very difficult, and that those questioning her timing had no idea what she had gone through.
“Some asked why I did not complain earlier. Some said I should have filed a complaint in Hisar back in January. I was alone there, taking care of my 2-year-old and 4-year-old kids. When I got back, many asked me to let it go, but with my family’s support, I have decided to seek justice. It shouldn’t matter that I spoke up late; only I know how much courage it took me to come out and speak up,” Pooja said.
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On Thursday, 12 November, more than two weeks after the survivor handed her complaint to the DGP, the state government constituted a committee to examine the allegations. Reports said the move followed the Governor’s intervention.
The panel is headed by K Lakshmi, managing director of the Telangana State Warehousing Corporation. Its members include IAS officers Rahul Raj, Yasmin Basha and B Gopi, and Sunitha Krishnan of the NGO Prajwala. The committee has 15 days to submit its findings.
On the same day, Janaiah appeared in person before the Telangana State Commission for Women after it issued a notice based on the complaint lodged on 7 November.
(The survivor’s name has been changed to protect identity. Edited by Fayisa CA)
