Sambalpur: A major controversy has erupted at government women’s college in Odisha’s Sambalpur district after female students accused an English lecturer of making repeated inappropriate and obscene remarks during classes.
Amid reports of inaction as the lecturer reportedly continued to hold classes despite an ongoing probe, Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj has directed strict action, reiterating the government’s zero-tolerance policy towards such misconduct..The Minister also spoke with the college principal over the phone and instructed that the lecturer be immediately barred from taking any classes until the college’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) submits its investigation report, according to sources.
Sources further said that four students first approached the Head of the Department (HoD) with their complaints about the lecturer’s behaviour. When the HoD intervened, she was allegedly threatened by the accused teacher. “We confided in our HoD, who guided us on filing a written complaint. However, some PG students recorded our conversation and sent it to him. Since then, he has been threatening us and our HoD. On a messaging app, he accused the HoD of instigating students to file a complaint against him,” a student told a local news channel.
The matter was finally escalated to the ICC on March 19 with a formal complaint.
The students, however, alleged that that the IIC had been trying to dissuade them for pursuing the case and have sought immediate transfer of the accused lecturer. They also approached the college principal, seeking his immediate suspension to ensure a fair inquiry. “The lecturer would explain about pornography, saying we would need the information in the future. When we asked him about writing an abstract for a seminar, he asked us to watch adult pornographic videos. Once he told me, ‘I will scream and you will moan.’ We have filed a complaint with the ICC, but they kept delaying the hearings,” another student said anonymously.
She further stated that Sambalpur police visited the campus on April 9, took note of their allegations, and assured them of action.
Sources added that the accused lecturer was transferred from a college in Sundargarh district to his current posting following similar allegations.