Girls become victims in most of the cases of sexual harassments in colleges, offices, homes and even in public places. Now, male students are also becoming victims of sexual abuse by male teachers even in the college campuses. It happened in the prestigious Ramjas College in Delhi University.

The teacher community in Delhi University, particularly the faculty of Political Science, received second such jolt within two months when some students of Political Science department alleged that senior faculty member and vice-principal of the college, BN Ray, asked them for sexual favor several times.

Earlier, senior teacher in PG department of political science, Vidyut Chakrabarty, had faced allegation of sexual harassment against him. Later, he was asked to step down as the head of department of political science. However, in this case BN Ray is accused for asking sexual favors from male students of the college. Students of the political science department staged a huge protest and students of other faculties actively supported them against the shameful behavior of a senior and aged teacher BN Ray.

On 25 October, the students called a house meeting of Ramjas College in the college auditorium and urged everyone from the college, including male, female students and teachers of other departments also to be present in the meeting. Everyone present in the auditorium was shocked when students started complaining against BN Ray’s indecent behavior and exposed the incidents of sexual assaults happened with many of them. The students openly complained in the open meeting, organised in college auditorium, that BN Ray tried to sexually assault them several times.

According to some students, the episode started when a student of History department approached some students of political science and indicated them about the BN Ray’s illegitimate and shameful demand of sexual favor from him. The History student told his friends that BN Ray had even called him 20 times in a single day asking him to give his ‘company’.

The student’s mental condition had been terrorized by the demands of sexual favors by a respectable teacher who was also the vice-principal of the college. Initially, he tried to ignore the incidents but when it happened repeatedly he went in panic state of mind and even started thinking to commit suicide because of the mental pressure he was failing to put up with. Later, three other students of the Political science department, when heard about the incident from the History student, disclosed that BN Ray had approached them also and asked to do sexual favor for him.

The new disclosures worked like fuel to the fire and the students decided to make a formal complain to different authorities at College and university level against BN Ray. The students of Political Science department decided not to attend any class till the suspension of Ray from all his posts in the college.

They all received tremendous support from students and teacher community and more than 700 students gathered in the college auditorium on October 25 and demanded from Principal of the college, Rajendra Prasad, to terminate BN Ray from all the posts such as Vice Principal, Admission Convener, Reader in political science department.

Principal Rajendra Prasad, later, forwarded the matter to College Complaints Committee (CCC) as per the Supreme Court guidelines under 2.8.1 of ordinance XV-D. The CCC held the first meeting on October 29 and prima facie established the case of sexual harassment against BN Ray and called off the meeting for two days.

Later, BN Ray rejected all the charges of sexual assault leveled against him. However a young lecturer, who was present at the meeting, alleged that this was not the first time that Ray had been accused of sexual harassment.

One of the victims, a third-year student of political science, alleged that he was molested in a hospital last year, where he had gone to visit Ray after he suffered a heart attack.

He said:

Ray told me to lie down beside him and I obeyed, as he threatened to ruin my career. Some months later, Ray called me to his house in Model Town, where he again asked for sexual favours. This time, I protested and left his house immediately.

I never had the courage to complain, till recently when I came to know that many students have gone through a similar experience and many more were being victimised even now. All of us gathered strength and approached our teachers and conducted this general body meeting on Thursday.

On October 31, CCC held the second meeting and all the members of the committee unanimously recommended the college governing body to suspend BN Ray from all his administrative positions with immediate effect and to ask him not to attend classes till he is absolved of the charges made against him. The College governing body suspended Ray from all the posts he was holding in college administration and debarred him from attending the teaching duties in the college till the final report of the CCC in this matter.

The three days between Oct 25, when the students gathered for an open meeting in the college auditorium) to October 29 (when the College governing body suspended BN Ray till further notice) were the greatest example of student unity in the north campus (Delhi University) in recent past.

The students of other departments and other gender openly supported the victims and the protesters to the highest degree in all the three days. Teaching was impossible in several departments, particularly in political science department because all the classes were closed till Ray’s suspension notice issued by college authority.

The students also organized a candle light protest in front of Vice-chancellor’s office against Ray’s indecent behavior. They are still organizing seminars, discussions, staging protests and making the appeal to students, teachers, non-teaching staffs of other colleges in Delhi University to extend hands of support to them in their fight for justice and to establish the sacredness of the relationship between students and teachers.

The CCC is likely to hold next meeting on November12. In between, a Crisis Intervention Group has been formed to look into the matter and a sub-committee of the CCC is examining the allegations of sexual abuse leveled against BN Ray by the students of the college. However, the students want the termination of BN Ray’s service from the college as soon as possible.