Suspend professor accused of harassment: TISS students

The inquiry report was submitted by the committee on March 11 and accepted by the institute’s director Shalini Bharat on March 14. A show-cause notice was sent to the professor, who was asked to respond within two weeks.

More than two weeks after the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) found a senior professor guilty of sexually harassing a former student, the institute’s students’ union has demanded the accused be relieved of his duties, as recommended by the committee.

Suspend professor accused of harassment: TISS students (HT Photo)

The inquiry report was submitted by the committee on March 11 and accepted by the institute’s director Shalini Bharat on March 14. A show-cause notice was sent to the professor, who was asked to respond within two weeks.

“The report took longer than expected. It has been over two weeks since the committee submitted their report but no firm action has yet been taken. We hope all recommendations of the committee are adopted without any further delay,” said a statement released by the union.

Other recommendations of the committee include formation of a strong policy for student-teacher interactions and for the institute to put together a gender policy to address all forms of sexual and gender-based harassment. In October 2018, a student, who was pursuing MA at the institute between 2004 and 2006, took to social media to write about the sexual harassment by the accused professor.