An assistant professor at the state government’s prestigious Development Management Institute here has alleged that she was sexually harassed by its director Hemnath Rao Hanumankar and dean Niraj Kumar, a charge the officials denied.
The allegations come against the backdrop of the MeToo movement against sexual harassment that has seen a Union minister, M.J. Akbar, step down.
The woman, a Patna resident and a PhD holder from one of the country’s most prestigious engineering schools, joined the Development Management Institute in July 2016. On October 24 this year, she registered an FIR with the Gandhi Maidan police station against the duo.
She has alleged that Hemnath, who was then a dean, used to ogle at her. After Hemnath became director of the institute in March 2018 he started seeking sexual favours from her and other women and she was threatened with loss of job when she refused, the assistant professor has alleged in her letter on the basis of which the FIR (no. 529/18) has been registered.
The Telegraph has a copy of the letter.
The woman said she complained on October 5 to DMI sexual harassment committee chairperson professor Amrita Dhiman, who took her to dean Niraj Kumar’s chamber .
“Dean Niraj pressured me to give in to the demands of the director at which I became angry and walked out of his office. I sat on a sofa outside and started crying. He (Niraj) came there, caught my hand and pulled me inside his chamber and started touching me without my consent. He again asked me to accept the demands of the director,” the woman has stated.
She has alleged that Hemnath and Niraj colluded to harass her, and said the October 5 incident could be ascertained from CCTV footage.
The police have registered a case under IPC sections 354 (assault or criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354D (following a woman and contacting or attempting to contact her repeatedly to foster personal interaction despite a clear indication of disinterest by such woman; stalking), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).
The assistant professor told The Telegraph that she tolerated the harassment for long but finally decided to fight. “I had also written to various authorities including the governing board chairman Anup Mukerji, but I was asked to meet the director. How can a person against whom I am complaining redress my problems?” she asked.
She has stopped going to the institute and asserted that she would pursue the case even if she loses her job. “I was a full-time faculty at DMI, but I was asked by the present director to appear again for faculty recruitment seminar and was tagged as a visiting faculty after working there since 2016. This was a ploy coerce me to accept his demands,” she said.
When contacted, DMI director Hemnath told The Telegraph that the woman concerned “has been a problem character”.
“She was hired as an adjunct faculty for one year and was given another two years by the former director, K.V. Raju, who is being investigated for various wrongdoings at the institute and with whom she had a good rapport,” he claimed. “Her job term ends in June next year and she is trying to force us to make her a full-time faculty. Her allegations are prompted by job insecurity and some conspiracy by former director Raju to stall investigations against him.”
DMI dean Niraj also called the allegations “baseless” and said that the FIR had been wrongly registered “by a person who has been terminated from service at various places where she has worked”.
The dean added: “She is an adjunct faculty and wants to be regularised without following the process. The case has been registered by her to put undue pressure on us.”
The police have spoken to other employees of the DMI. Bihar State Women’s Commission chairperson Dilmani Devi has also written to Patna senior superintendent of police Manu Maharaaj to provide an action taken report within 10 days.
The state government set up the DMI in February 2014 to establish a high performing knowledge institution. It is an autonomous institute to empower and usher in participatory governance and management of institutions, enterprises and resources for enhancing livelihoods and generating sustainable development.
