Another case of atrocity against minorities has come to light, but this time it is in Bengaluru's 107-year-old Indian Instutute of Sciences.
An FIR has been filed against the director of Bengaluru’s 107-year-old Indian Institute of Sciences and four other faculty members for allegedly orchestrating a sexual harassment case against a Dalit faculty member, and subsequently dismissed him without launching an inquiry, TOI reported.
The FIR was registered at the Sadashivnagar police station against the five members of the institute based on a complaint filed by Sanna Durgappa, the faculty member who was dismissed from the Centre for Sustainable Technologies. The police filed the FIR only after the seventh additional CMM court directed an investigation into the matter, the TOI report said.
The FIR was filed against IISc director, Prof Anurag Kumar, registrar Raja Rajan and three faculty members from the Centre for Sustainable Technologies – Chankya H, Sudhakar Rao and Venkatarama Reddy, the report added.
This is the first time a criminal case has been filed against any member in one of India’s institutes, recognized worldwide for its science institutes, the report said.
The FIR states that apart from orchestrating the sexual harassment case, the accused faculty members allegedly also denied Durgappa a functional lab, a chamber and even denied him access to the toilet, the report states, and adds that the accused allegedly addressed Durgappa using the name of his caste in a disrespectful manner.
Durgappa told TOI that such incidents had been occurring in perpetuity and despite complaining to the director, the situation was not rectified.
“In fact, I was harassed more and he along with the others orchestrated the sexual harassment complaint. They sent one of my students (I don’t wish to take her name) to my office at night after they had promised her a job, and then dismissed me over sexual harassment charges,” Durgappa told TOI.