‘Harassment’ case; varsity closed

Victim withdraws admission after allegedly pressured to drop case

ISLAMABAD:

The administration has closed down the University of Haripur till March 7 on the pretext of coronavirus cases after a politico-religious party planned a protest rally against the alleged sexual harassment of a female student by a teacher.

Sources privy to the development said that the university has been closed to cover up the sexual harassment incident and to keep the students away from protesting against the incident.

According to the sources, a first-semester female student WS* of the Public Health and Nutrition Department submitted an application to Vice-Chancellor Dr Anwarul Hassan Gilani, accusing the head of the Public Health and Nutrition Department Assistant Prof Dr Amjad Khan of harassment.

The vice-chancellor had formed an inquiry committee, which has ostensibly exonerated the teacher of charges, however, the family has withdrawn the admission of the student after they were allegedly pressured not to pursue the case. The inquiry committee comprised of Dr Abid Fareed, Dr Sadaf Raja and Dr Shafiq Ahmad.

The sources claimed that former registrar Dr Shah Masood Khan, who is reportedly closed to be Dr Amjad Khan, allegedly pressured the victim student and her parents not to pursue the case to avoid disgracing the family name.

The sources said that the victim student was not allowed to appear before the inquiry committee to present her version.

The inquiry committee also summoned Dr Amjad Khan, who strongly denied the sexual harassment charges and the messages.

The committee stated that the student has mental and psychological problems. However, it said that according to the record, the victim student was an intelligent student who secured over 900 marks in the intermediate. The girl's academic year has also come to an end after the alleged abuse of a teacher.

When contacted, the convenor of the inquiry committee Dr Abid Fareed confirmed that the inquiry had taken place. He said: “Our job was to conduct the inquiry. We did so and submitted the report to the vice-chancellor's office. Now it is up to the vice-chancellor to decide what action has to be taken”. The female member of the inquiry committee Associate Prof Sadaf Raja, declined to comment, saying the registrar should be contacted for the version.

Acting Registrar of Haripur University, Dr Riaz Muhammad said that he had been on leave for several days due to the coronavirus. “There is no such inquiry or a report in my knowledge,” he said.

Family sources of the affected student confirmed that the student had contacted Dr Amjad through the pass-out students after doing her intermediate for admission to Haripur University and she had taken admission to the nutrition department.

They said that Dr Amjad helped her get admission to the hostel. The girl was taken to Peshawar without permission within a month of admission. After which, when the family members expressed their displeasure, it was said that she had not been taken to Peshawar. But later the family found that he had taken the girl to Peshawar.

Meanwhile, a man from Mirpur was asked by Dr Amjad to intervene and withdraw the application. “We knew there will be no justice, so we ended up pursuing the case,” the family said.

After the sexual harassment case surfaced, Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba Nazim Haripur Division Taqweem Idrees demanded a transparent inquiry into the incident. "Such incidents have become a menace to our society which should be eliminated. In universities where students go for higher education and acquire knowledge and occurrence of such incidents is a matter of concern. We demand from the management of the university, especially the vice-chancellor, that the incident should be probed and made public. A spokesperson for IJT Haripur University has also demanded an immediate inquiry into the incident.

DPO seeks past record

Meanwhile, Haripur District Police Officer Kashif Aftab Abbasi has asked the management of the University of Haripur to share three-year detail of cases of students’ harassment and the action taken against the culprits.

In a letter written to the vice-chancellor and the registrar, the DPO said that incidents of harassment of female students had come to his notice through social media, but these cases were neither reported to the police nor any other forum. The letter said such incidents had created resentment among the public and parents.

The DPO referred to different sections of the Pakistan Penal Code and said harassment was an offence and the university was bound under law to share the information with relevant authorities for legal action.

The DPO asked the university administration to furnish how many complaints of harassment were reported, and what action was taken against the accused. He also asked the university to arrange a students’ gathering, where he (DPO) would educate them about the relevant sections of PPC and anti-harassment laws.

Meanwhile, in response to the DPO’s letter, the university’s additional registrar wrote that the incident was taken up seriously after receipt of the complaint on Dec 30, 2021.

The letter said a three-member committee had started collecting statements, but on January 8, the complainant wrote to it that she was not interested in pursuing her complaint. The letter said of the three complaints received during the last three years, one proved correct and the accused employee was removed from service on Sept 30, 2019.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2022.