“We wish strict motion towards Kumar and for him to be expelled from school. We wish to examine,” mentioned a complainant within the GCG case to ThePrint on situation of anonymity.
At round 9 pm on 18 March, 2024, Kumar, purportedly inebriated, shared a hyperlink to a pornographic video inside a WhatsApp group referred to as ‘BAMC 2nd 12 months’, comprising 22 of his college students. Subsequently, one of many college students is claimed to have alerted him, prompting Kumar to delete it. Nonetheless, a number of college students had already taken screenshots by then.
The subsequent day, 16 women who have been a part of the WhatsApp group wrote their criticism to the faculty administration.
The faculty’s principal, Ram Niwas Yadav, was fast to take motion. He shaped an inside criticism committee comprising three members, which convened on 20 March. The identical day, college students and their households staged a protest outdoors the faculty premises.
Throughout the committee’s deliberation, the allegations towards Kumar have been validated, prompting the choice to lodge a police criticism towards him. On that afternoon, the police registered a case beneath part 67A of the Info Expertise Act, 2000, pertaining to the dissemination of sexually specific materials in digital kind, resulting in his subsequent arrest.
“Since there have been no complaints of any type of bodily harassment towards him, and he has solely shared a pornographic hyperlink, this part has been utilized. Underneath this, there’s a provision of imprisonment for as much as 5 years,” Singh mentioned.
On 21 March, Kumar was despatched to 14 days’ judicial custody by the Gulha Courtroom. He has since utilized for bail for medical causes, citing accidents to his legs. An opposition to this plea was made by the general public prosecutor on the grounds that if he’s launched, it might put stress on college students.
Over the previous few months, related incidents have been reported from instructional establishments throughout Haryana.
In November final 12 months, ThePrint had reported on the incidents that unfolded at a public college situated within the state’s Jind district. Inappropriate conduct reminiscent of lecherous stares, unwarranted touching, and asking college students intrusive questions on their private lives — these have been the complaints made by almost 150 college students to the district training officer towards the college’s principal.
Police suspected that the misconduct had began 5 years in the past, when Kartar Singh Chahal was appointed because the principal of the ladies’ college. The chain of occasions resulting in Singh’s apprehension started with an nameless e mail despatched to the Haryana State Fee for Ladies on 31 August. An investigation adopted, culminating in Singh’s arrest on 5 November. Throughout the preliminary phases of the inquiry, solely 5 women stepped ahead to supply testimony to the police.
Extra lately, in the beginning of this 12 months, college students of Chaudhary Devi Lal College in Sirsa district despatched a two-page letter in Hindi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Droupadi Murmu, then Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, the State Ladies’s Fee, and a neighborhood journalist. The letter accused Dean Sushil Kumar of sexually harassing college students for months, providing good grades in sensible exams in return.
A report by ThePrint on the case quoted the letter despatched by college students: “He touched our personal elements and threatened us that if we complained about him, it wouldn’t come out properly for us.”
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The GCG case
On 28 July, 2022, some GCG Cheeka college students wrote an nameless letter addressed to Kaithal’s deputy commissioner and the college administration.
“Incidents occurred two months in the past when a instructor, Mr. Jitender, was caught with a woman from our school. He jumped from the faculty roof, inflicting his backbone and each legs to fracture. Everybody is aware of about this, however no motion has been taken towards anybody to this point,” the letter said in Hindi.
ThePrint has accessed a duplicate of this letter.
The letter additionally accused two different professors of instructing whereas inebriated and “posting indecent photographs on Fb”.
“If our households discover out, our training shall be disrupted. These individuals will even scale back our marks and tarnish our repute. Please do one thing in order that we are able to examine in a greater atmosphere,” the letter added.
The SHO defined {that a} related nameless letter was written in January this 12 months, making the identical allegations towards Kumar, however when motion was taken, no complainant got here ahead.
This time, although, college students have come ahead brazenly.
‘Inside politics’
When ThePrint visited GCG in Cheeka Friday, professors of the faculty had gathered inside Principal Ram Niwas Yadav’s workplace. Former BJP MLA Kulwant Ram, who helped set up the faculty in 2018, was additionally current. When Ram inquired in regards to the matter, Yadav claimed rapid and swift motion was taken towards Kumar.
Nonetheless, whereas acknowledging the misery brought on to the feminine college students and objecting to Kumar’s actions, Yadav additionally addressed the difficulty of “groupism” amongst professors, notably inside the mass communication division on the school.
“There’s a lack of coordination between the professors and college students. And a nexus has been shaped,” the principal said.
Chatting with ThePrint, he mentioned that in 2022, when the nameless letter was acquired, he was not related to the faculty. He added that complaints have been registered with the administration final 12 months, however that he was unaware of the following plan of action.
Appointed as principal six months in the past, Yadav mentioned he’s striving to “enhance issues” on campus. Nonetheless, inside politics are undermining his efforts. In accordance with him, if the mass communication division is “shut down”, issues might enhance.
“Now, this matter is within the court docket, and the administration will take additional motion based on the legislation,” Yadav mentioned in regards to the case pertaining to Kumar.
On the difficulty of groupism, the place college students are being swayed by lecturers to say sure issues, he mentioned that he’ll talk about with workers members strict measures that have to be carried out for girls’s security.
In accordance with SHO Singh, Kumar had a “private rivalry” with one other professor, and claimed to have acquired dying threats.
Within the principal’s workplace, one other professor spoke of an incident from 2022 when Kumar allegedly “fell” from the roof of a constructing inside the school campus. The nameless letter despatched final 12 months, too, talked about this incident and claimed that the professor was on the roof of the constructing with a scholar who, it asserted, was his “girlfriend”. When questioned by the faculty administration, Kumar had defined that he fell whereas “making an attempt to catch a hen”. Throughout this incident, he had suffered critical accidents to his legs.
ThePrint reached Kumar’s lawyer, O.P. Gulati through calls. This report shall be up to date if and when a response is acquired.
Since this incident, former MLA Ram has acquired many calls. “Individuals are asking me that you simply established the faculty, however why are all these incidents taking place? It has turn out to be tough for me to reply,” he mentioned.
Rising voices
The scholars stand divided, trapped between a rock and a tough place — the foyer towards Kumar and one other towards professor Ravi Shankar from the mass communication division — all striving to get “good marks”. This incident has left some fearful that they won’t be allowed to proceed their research.
Chatting with ThePrint, a 20-year-old BA scholar mentioned, “Have a look at this. My uncle simply shared this information hyperlink on WhatsApp. He’s asking if professors in my school share obscene hyperlinks.”
This scholar’s household is presently unaware of the matter, however after this message, she fears her research could be stopped. “Why would anybody ship their daughter to such a university?” she requested.
“It’s good that Jitender has been arrested. I hope he will get life imprisonment. Possibly now there shall be much less groupism on campus. At the least we’ll be capable to examine higher,” one other scholar added.
The technical loopholes within the IT Act have emerged as a serious downside for the police. The cops have requested screenshots of the hyperlink posted on the WhatsApp group for proof. Nonetheless, the scholars solely have cropped photographs.
They steered conducting a forensic check on Kumar’s cellphone, however, based on the police, forensic checks can not retrieve the message contained inside the hyperlink despatched on WhatsApp as a result of the hyperlink doesn’t save on the cellphone.
At round 4 pm Monday, the scholars have been nonetheless sitting inside the court docket premises, hiding their faces behind colourful scarves, wanting to go house. Solely 9 out of 16 college students arrived on the courthouse to file their statements. A chronic counseling course of delayed their return.
“When all our statements match, why aren’t they letting us go house? Why are they doing this counseling?” one complainant whispered to a different.
However the police inspired the ladies to maintain preventing. “It has been just some hours, it might take years to get justice in court docket,” one officer advised them. “Don’t again down.”
The 9 who recorded their statements discover solace in the truth that their households are with them. In accordance with them, in the event that they hadn’t knowledgeable their households, they won’t have been in a position to come ahead brazenly.
As soon as completed on the courthouse, they swiftly make their approach in direction of the bus stands to catch the final bus of the night. On the bus stand, they share that Kumar has by no means behaved inappropriately with them in any approach, even in school. That is the primary time he has despatched any such message of their group. It’s an motion they received’t tolerate, and they’re decided to battle towards it.
“When women increase their voices, the entire society tries to suppress them, however now we have determined to battle towards it,” mentioned a complainant.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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