DU’s Open Learning school students file sexual harassment complaint against fellow student

In the complaint, filed at the Maurice Nagar police station, the students said an SoL student had tried to harass them while they were sitting in the arts faculty garden at the university’s north campus.

A group of women students at Delhi University’s School of Open Learning (SoL) filed a police complaint alleging sexual harassment against a fellow student at the Arts Faculty on Sunday afternoon.

The incident triggered a demand by DU’s School of Open Learning students for the constitution of centre-wise Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), to look after such cases. (Shutterstock / Representative Image)

In the complaint, filed at the Maurice Nagar police station, the students said an SoL student had tried to harass them while they were sitting in the arts faculty garden at the university’s north campus. “We were sitting in the garden during a break when a person came and started passing lewd comments towards us. It was so shocking for us, because the incident happened in a broad daylight at the campus,” one of the complainants said.

The complainant said they called the guards for help, and the police was called in later as well. Officials at the police station confirmed receiving the complaint and said they are looking in to the matter.

The incident triggered a demand by the SoL students for the constitution of centre-wise Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), to look after such cases.

According to the students, there is only one ICC for around 35 SoL centres in the University and that too without any students’ representative. “Such incidents are rampant at the SoL centres, but we have nowhere to go. There is only one ICC whose members sit at the main SoL building. There is no students’ representative to approach as well. Who will go and complaint to them every time such incident takes place at far-flung centres like Deshbandhu College or Ramanujan College,” said Harish Gautam, a SoL student and a member of the students’ group Krantikari Yuva Sangathan.

SoL executive director HC Pokhriyal said the process of selection of students’ representatives for the ICC is underway. “We have already started the process and will soon hold elections for students’ representatives in the committee. There are some students at the SoL who are trying to malign the administration’s name by propagating false information that we do not have a properly constituted ICC. The students can directly approach us with their complaints,” Pokhriyal said.

The SoL is a correspondence option offered by Delhi University. The university offers weekend classes to students.