On 7th November, a student of Miranda house circulated a message accusing an employee of the college of sexual misconduct.
On 7th November, a student of Miranda House circulated a message on WhatsApp accusing an employee of the college photocopy shop of sexual misconduct. The student alleged that the employee kept staring at her body and making inappropriate statements.
The message read, “Today I had to visit the photocopy shop of Miranda House for some urgent piece of work related to a reading for my examination… I went to the shop and I was talking to this man named Karan I believe. From the very first instance, he made me feel super comfortable with his constant glances onto my breast. I chose to ignore it. Then he had to ask me why I was here a day before my exam because according to him the whole year I was on social media flirting with boys. I told him to do his work and let me leave. Then he said to me, ‘ aapne sweater kyun pehna hai?, itni thand nahi hai. Abhi andar shameez (probably my inner) bhi pehni hogi.’ (Why are you wearing a sweater? It’s not that cold. You must be wearing thermals inside.)I was dumbstruck and couldn’t respond. Then again, he said to me,’Ek baat bolu? Bura mat manna, aapki strap dikh rahi hai, acha nahi lag raha. (Your strap is showing, it doesn’t look good.) I responded that it’s none of his business. Then he asked me to paytm the amount for the reading on his personal number. I insisted that I’d do it on the barcode already there on the shop, but he said it’s not working. Left with no option, I forwarded the money on his personal number”
However, swift action was taken soon after this message was circulated. Within hours, the issue was registered with the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) and discussed with the authorities. The Miranda House Student Union (MHSU) responded saying that the authorities have decided to bar the entry of the accused, Karan, into the college premises and the police have also been kept in the loop with the case.
“On an urgent basis, training of all the non-teaching staff will also be conducted, and a list of the members and their conduct thereon will be recorded periodically. This program is already conducted for all the teaching staff but will now also be extended to the non-teaching staff with immediate effect,” said the MHSU.
In addition, a message explaining the functioning of the ICC was also circulated in college WhatsApp groups for a clarification of the process of dealing with such incidents.
“The student is meeting the ICC members for formal proceedings. Her TIC and mentor have reached out to her. MH has a zero-tolerance for sexual harassment. Proud of the student who spoke up and reached out. Thank you for informing me,” said Dr. Bijayalaxmi Nanda, the Acting Principal of Miranda House.
DU Beat reached out to the Miranda House Student Union for comment but didn’t receive a response.
Feature Image Credits: Lavina Mulani
Satviki Sanjay
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