IIT Madras research scholar alleges sexual assault, harassment, FIR filed against 8

The IIT Madras research scholar, a member of the Scheduled Castes community,  has accused her fellow scholar of sexually assaulting and harassing her at the workplace since she joined the institution in 2016. 

Chennai: A research scholar at the IIT Madras here has accused her fellow scholar of sexually assaulting her repeatedly and also harassing her at work place along with his accomplices including two of her professors for nearly four years after she joined the institution in 2016.

Apart from the physical and mental trauma she was subjected to by the group of men at the institution and during a trip to Coorg, as well, the scholar was prevented from using the laboratory equipment to work on her thesis, she claimed.

Police have also filed a case in the matter, naming eight persons in the FIR.

Alarmed at the unpleasant turn of events during her academic pursuit, she had remained silent initially but later overcoming her shock she summoned courage to complain to the internal Complaints Committee against Sexual Harassment (CCASH), which in its interim recommendation sought to restrain her three fellow scholars including the main accused - against whom she levelled her accusations - from entering the campus till she completed her work with respect to her PhD and submits her thesis. "Further, the guides should ensure that the respondents do not submit their thesis until the scholar (victim) submits," the committee said while postponing further investigation until she submitted her thesis.

Taking exception to the leniency meted out to the men who allegedly sexually, physically and mentally harassed her, the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA), Tamil Nadu president S Valentina and general secretary P Suganthi, who took up the girl's case, have sought justice to the victim and stringent action against the perpetrators. The leaders claimed that the CCASH enquired and gave an interim order on October 10, 2020, based on the scholar's complaint on July 17, 2020.