Audio leak: ABVP vandalises Hyderabad college over ‘sexual harassment’ of teachers

The RSS-affiliated student body has called for all branches of Narayana College to be shut down, and demanded that the dean be sacked immediately. It also sought prompt action against the group chairman, who is a minister in the Andhra Pradesh government.

Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) vandalised the Narayanguda branch of a corporate college in Hyderabad on Thursday evening, after an audio clip circulated on the social media insinuated the sexual harassment of women teachers at the hands of an institute official.

ABVP activists hold up banners after vandalising the premises of Narayana College in Hyderabad. (HT Photo)

The alleged crime was even said to have spurred one of the victims to commit suicide last year.

The RSS-affiliated student body has called for all branches of Narayana College to be shut down, and demanded that the dean be sacked immediately. It also sought prompt action against the group chairman, who is a minister in the Andhra Pradesh government.

“There are serious allegations that Jayasimha Reddy, deputy general manager of the corporate college, has been sexually harassing women teachers and principals. Unable to bear it, a lecturer even committed suicide last year. We demand stringent action against the official after a thorough inquiry,” Telangana ABVP secretary L Ayyappa said.

Police take ABVP protesters into custody after their attack on Narayana College.

The 40-minute audio clip, which went viral on the social media on Thursday, had a man and a woman discussing the alleged sexual harassment of women staffers by Reddy. The deceased woman lecturer’s name also came up in the course of the conversation.

Narayanaguda police said six ABVP activists were booked under sections 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.

Meanwhile, Narayana College authorities denied any wrongdoing on their part. “In any case, we have called for an internal inquiry to verify the allegations against Jayasimha Reddy,” said a college spokesperson.

The voices on the audio tape are yet to be identified.