St. Stephen’s principal Valson Thampu said on Saturday that he “wholeheartedly” welcomed the HRD ministry’s direction regarding the inquiry into the molestation row, even as the clamour for his resignation mounted.
“I got to know that the HRD ministry has asked the University Grants Commission to ensure that a fair probe is conducted. I wholeheartedly welcome the decision and am ready to cooperate with all agencies,” Mr. Thampu said.
Refuting allegations that he tried to hush up the matter by shielding the accused, he claimed that “the girl wasn’t sure she wanted to treat it as a sexual harassment complaint”.
“It wasn’t for me, but for the victim to approach the police. I could have raised it with the college’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), which I did,” he said responding to queries as to why the matter was not reported to police when he first received the complaint.
“The girl wasn’t sure if she wanted to treat it as a sexual harassment complaint. If I would have reported it to police, it would have been a breach of trust,” he added.
Mr. Thampu, meanwhile, said that the protest staged at the college by students’ bodies on Friday had struck “terror” among the aspirants on the campus. “I believe educational institutions should have a zero-tolerance policy on such issues. I am with the victim in her quest for justice, but the issue should not be politicised,” he said.
About the audio recordings submitted to police by the complainant claiming that Mr. Thampu had put pressure on her to not treat the matter as that of sexual harassment, Mr. Thampu said they have been “mischievously edited”.
He maintained that he has not heard the recordings and has only seen the published transcripts.
“I shall make no comments on the merit of the contents and how cleverly they have been manipulated insofar as a police investigation into the case is in progress, but they have been mischievously edited,” he said.
The research scholar had approached police on June 19 alleging that she was molested by Satish Kumar, an assistant professor of Chemistry Department, and that Mr. Thampu had tried to shield the accused when the matter was reported to him.
Delhi High Court had yesterday ordered a stay on Kumar’s arrest till August 17.
Women’s organisations were today up in arms against Mr. Thampu for “mishandling” the issue.
“We demand immediate reassigning of the Ph.D supervisor and initiation of an external inquiry into the principal’s role and institutional failure to address such cases,” several women’s organisations, including All-India Democratic Women’s Association, Centre for Struggling Women, Saheli and All-India Progressive Women’s Association, said in a joint statement.
While the HRD Ministry asked the UGC to ensure that the college’s ICC completes the enquiry “expeditiously” and “impartially”, the Delhi University is maintaining it is St. Stephen’s internal matter. — PTI
