Delhi: 22-year-old medical student accuses professor of sexual harassment

New Delhi: A 22-year-old medical student alleged that her professor sexually harassed her during a viva examination, police said on Monday.

According to the complainant, she is an MBBS student of the 2021 batch at a government hospital.

"On January 31, our practical exam was going on in a pharmacology department. At around 1.15 pm, I had to appear before an assistant professor of Pharmacology for a practical viva. The professor had kept the chair close to himself even though students usually sit across the table from the teachers." Further, the complainant said that the professor gave her some documents and he kept on asking her inappropriate and irrelevant questions which made her feel uncomfortable, read the FIR.

"When I stopped answering he sent me out and asked me to come again. Then he started asking me about injections and inappropriately touched me. He touched my neck and tried to touch my private parts on the pretext of asking questions," she alleged.

"When I stood up to leave, he asked me about breast abscess (medical condition)and made inappropriate gestures," it stated.

The victim told police that the assistant professor asked her to come to the department alone as he would teach her how to write answers in a way that would fetch her more marks.

"He also told me that he was going to check our written exam answer sheets so he will take care of the marks if I am cooperative enough," read the FIR.

The complainant also alleged that similar incidents had happened with other students too, but they remained silent as they feared failing the exam.

She also claimed that she lodged a complaint to the concerned authorities, but no action was taken against the assistant professor.

"Our HOD also supported him and defamed me among other teachers by telling them that these girls are making false allegations," the FIR stated.

Police have registered an FIR under sections 354A (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code against the accused.