Delhi: Jamia faculty accuses official of sexual harassment

An FIR was registered against a section officer of Jamia Millia Islamia’s (JMI) Centre for Distance and Online Education on June 17

Police said on Friday that a first information report has been registered on allegations by a woman faculty member of Jamia Millia Islamia’s (JMI) Centre for Distance and Online Education (CDOE) against a CDOE section officer and that he has been questioned .

Police said the accused has been booked under BNS sections 75 (sexual harassment) and 79 (outraging woman’s modesty) and that her statement has been recorded before a magistrate. (Representational image)

The All India Students’ Association (AISA), in a press statement released on Thursday, had said that an AISA representative had accompanied the faculty member to the Jamia Nagar police station, following which the FIR was registered on June 17.

DCP (southeast) Hemant Tiwari confirmed that an FIR was lodged after a complaint was received from the woman against her colleague.

Police said the accused has been booked under BNS sections 75 (sexual harassment) and 79 (outraging woman’s modesty) and that her statement has been recorded before a magistrate.

“The FIR is of sensitive nature. The incidents mentioned in the FIR are months old and we are probing the matter. We called the colleague (accused) for questioning and are verifying all allegations. There was no delay in lodging the FIR. It was done on the same day. There is mention of verbal abuse and sexual harassment. We will also question the university staff after which appropriate legal action will be taken against the accused...,” an officer at Jamia Nagar police station said,

“For more than three months now, since March 2025, a woman faculty member at CDOE… has faced repeated sexual harassment, character assassination, financial harassment, professional humiliation, and institutional gaslighting, which have created an unsafe and hostile workplace environment that has forced her to quit her job,” AISA said in the statement.

“The survivor’s requests for meetings with the Vice Chancellor and Registrar respectively were denied and her representations to them demanding action received no response. Despite multiple reminders and follow-ups, the survivor has been met with complete silence from the university administration and ICC (Internal Complaints committee),” AISA

AISA also claimed that the victim “was forcefully compelled to resign and warned that she would be blacklisted if she refused to remain silent”.

However, an official from CDOE, on condition of anonymity, said she was actually a contractual employee and despite an offer to extend her contract, she refused to stay.

“Her contract ended on May 30 and the department had offered her an extension for a year. She, however, denied the offer and said she has other prospects,” the CDOE official said. “Following the complaint, the accused had been transferred to another department. That decision is in effect currently. An enquiry committee is also looking into the matter and concerned people have been questioned regarding the same. However, it is an ongoing process and no final report has come out yet,” the official aded.

HT contacted the victim but she refused to talk.

HT also tried to get in touch with the accused but no response was received to calls and messages.

The Jamia administration, meanwhile, declined to comment.

AISA had demanded immediate suspension of the accused along with “immediate action against the VC, Registrar and Director, CDOE, for their complicity and abuse of authority”.

AISA had also called for the reinstatement of a democratically elected and autonomous Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH).

A university official said that while JMI does not have a GSCASH, the university does have an ICC “which is very active and addresses all sexual harassment complaints”.