Shreyas H S
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Jul 23: Even as Harish Rai, the Kannada lecturer of St Raymond’s College has been slapped with sexual harassment case, following a complaint by a girl student, a large chunk of students in the college vociferously claimed that "Harish sir is a metaphor for discipline."
Sr Mariette, corporate manager, Bethany Educational Institutions, when quizzed said the college will reveal necessary documents pertaining to the lecturer and the girl student to the police. "We will fully cooperate with the police in investigating the case," she said.
The college will form a disciplinary committee soon to check such incidents. She said this was the first incident reported in the college after it came into existence in the year 2002. According to her and lecturers on the basis of their experiences, Harish is known for his teaching skills, discipline and concern towards improving the quality of students.
Meanwhile, the family of the victim demanded the dismissal of the accused lecturer. "The college should act swiftly and dismiss the lecturer from service," demanded the brother of the victime. He contended that his sister was hesitant to report the repeated sexual advances (for a year) by the Kannada lecturer, but later depressed and fed up, she mustered the courage to speak up.
When asked about evidence for the allegations, he said that he has SMS records exchanged between the accused and his sister. He opined that the approach of the school indicated reluctance to conduct internal investigation on the serious issue.
The students along with the lecturers however expressed apprehensions over the fact that Harish is still absconding and felt that he might have done so out of fear.
Opinion of students
While the brother of the complainant persisted in his allegations, his female neighbor and classmate of the complainant, with whom the girl shares a close friendship, said that the story could have been 'fabricated' by the victim. Under condition of anonymity, she said that during class hours she never noticed any misbehavior on the part of the Kannada lecturer.
"He is disciplined human being and I heard from many that he even reformed many students. He made the students understand the nitty-gitty of Kannada language," she said.
She further said that given the girl's past record, she may be in the wrong as she had several times broken the rules of the college which led to punishments.
Kripa, another student, who is also an NSS cadet, argued that the girl has levelled false allegations. The girl in her complaint had said the lecturer 'misbehaved' during the NSS camp organized in Karkala. "It is a plain lie as the girl had been de-listed from attending the camp by Harish sir, as her past record in the college forced him to arrive at such a decision," she said.
Nishant Kumar, who had earlier been found guilty of misconduct over some issue, said, "My behavior was revived by Harish sir. The allegations are false. She could have at least written a complaint letter and put into the suggestion box. Our sir is a metaphor for discipline."
ABVP protest
Meanwhile, activists of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) held a protest at the college premises on Wednesday July 23 and demanded that the accused lecturer be arrested.
The activists also accused the college of defending the accused and shirking from its responsibility to do justice to the girl. They demanded that the college hand over the accused to the police without further delay.
The police who arrived at the spot prevented the situation from escalating. They also took four ABVP activists to the principal's chamber for discussion.
The protest was called off after the principal assured the activists of taking suitable action and cooperating with the police.