MU professor accused of sexual harassment

Mangaluru: A complaint against an assistant professor, alleging sexual harassment was submitted by a group of students from the Department of Library and Information Science at Mangalore University a few months ago. However, the incident came to light when a private channel aired it on Friday, July 6^th.

The Students submitted a complaint to the registrar in November 2017, stating that the students were sexually being harassed by assistant professor Umesh Naik. The Students’ Council of Mangalore University also submitted a complaint to the university authorities to initiate a probe into the allegations on February 2, 2018.

As per sources, the students had also brought the issue to the notice of the authorities concerned during an evaluation of the faculty in 2015-16. Refraining from answering the questions about the courses and lecturers, the students explained about the harassment meted out to them by the said faculty. They also informed that the said assistant professor kept a hidden camera in the classroom.

The students had also sent a complaint to SPARSH (Sensitization, Prevention and Redressal of Sexual Harassment) committee too, on the alleged indecent behaviour by the assistant professor with the students. The committee conducted an internal inquiry and submitted a report expressing displeasure at the said assistant professor for failing to cooperate in its report on April 4, 2018.

Dr Umesh Naik reacted to the allegations and said that the SPARSH committee was not constituted legally.  “I approached the high court and brought a stay on the same. I have been targeted as I am a Dalit,” he claimed.