Professor arrested in Odisha for 'sexually exploiting' student on pretext of marriage

Incident from Sambalpur comes days after 20-yr-old student of a college in Balasore set herself on fire over ‘inaction’ against a professor

An assistant professor of a government university was arrested in Odisha’s Sambalpur on Thursday for allegedly sexually exploiting a 20-year-old student of the varsity, police said.

The accused was remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. (Representative image)

On the basis of a complaint lodged by the woman, the Sambalpur Mahila Police Station registered a case and arrested the accused, he said.

The assistant professor sexually exploited the student at his official quarters, promising to marry her and later refusing to do so, according to the complaint, the officer said.

The accused has been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days by a court here, another official said.

Following his arrest, the university suspended the assistant professor with immediate effect.

The development comes days after a 20-year-old student of a college in Balasore set herself on fire over “inaction” against a professor, who had allegedly sexually harassed her. She died at the AIIMS-Bhubaneswar on Monday night after battling for life for around 60 hours.