A day after N Surya Raghavendra, the English Head of Department from the Adikavi Nannaya University in Andhra Pradesh was accused of sexually harassing his students, university Vice-Chancellor P Suresh Verma claimed that the allegations against the HoD were baseless. The V-C said that the complaint was a ploy to bring disrepute to the university.
The allegation created a furore in the state as the students wrote to the Chief Minister’s office regarding the matter. In their letter, the complainants — three female students — alleged that Surya Raghavendra would invite students to his residence under the pretext of special classes and sexually harass them.
Verma said that the women’s cell, which probed the complaint, found that there were missing links. He said that the preliminary inquiry proved that the allegations were baseless.
Addressing the media on Sunday, Verma said that the complainants were three former students from the 2017-19 batch.
According to the New Indian Express, he said, “I was not the V-C of the university during this period. Therefore, their contention that they did not approach me for help because Raghavendra and I were on friendly terms exposes their lies. How can these students who completed their studies and left the university make a complaint now?"
He added that the complaint letter did not have a signature, which, he said, was grounds for something fishy.
The V-C said when the women's cell reached out to the complainants, their phones were not functioning. "We suspect there is some foul play behind the whole episode to tarnish the image of the university. Nevertheless, we will conduct a comprehensive inquiry to get to the bottom of this. We have asked the women cell to speed up the probe. After receiving a final report, we will initiate appropriate steps."
A five-member committee has been constituted to probe the allegations, and a full report on the incident will be submitted by Monday.