The head of a department at Medical College Kolkata stepped down on Friday after students accused him of “inappropriate touch, physical harassment and misconduct” involving female students.
The college authorities have set up a seven-member inquiry committee that will submit its report within 10 days from Saturday.
As the complaint was lodged by a students’ body rather than an individual student, the matter could not be referred to the internal complaints committee, said Indranil Biswas, principal of the medical college.
“The seven-member committee has three female members and two student representatives,” Biswas added.
A statement issued by the Medical College Students’ Union on Friday alleged that an undergraduate student “faced physical harassment and inappropriate touch by the professor both in and outside class, on several occasions.”
Students said this was not the first time such allegations had surfaced. “Female students from earlier batches also faced harassment at his hands. Many male and female students have seen how he inappropriately touched or made female students uncomfortable,” a student told Metro.
Students said they had been aware of such incidents. “We knew about such incidents but the affected students rarely pursued the matter. The student who faced the recent harassment decided she would not let it go this time,” a student said.
On Friday, several students picketed outside the medical college principal’s room and submitted a complaint. They demanded that the professor be suspended from the post of head of the department and debarred from taking classes until the inquiry is complete.
The students also accused a faculty member from the same department of insensitivity after the undergraduate student approached her. “She told the student who went to her that she should sit on the rear benches if she was uncomfortable with the male professor,” a student said.
The students’ union said in a statement: “It is very disappointing from a female professor, trying to defend such inappropriate conduct of the HOD in a shameless manner.”
The accused professor voluntarily stepped down from the post of head of the department, an official of Medical College Kolkata said. A new departmental head has been appointed in his place.
However, the accused has not been barred from teaching. “If the inquiry committee finds him guilty prima facie, he will be debarred from taking classes. As of now, he can come to take classes pending the inquiry,” a college official said.
Principal Biswas added that the woman professor had apologised to students. “She said she was sorry if her comments hurt the student,” he said.
Biswas also said that the college is not empowered to suspend the accused. If the inquiry committee recommends suspension, the college will forward the recommendation to the state health department.
“If the inquiry committee formed by the college suggests referring the complaint to the internal complaints committee, we will do that. If they recommend any other measure, we will follow that,” Biswas said.