Abuse of SKUAST girl student by official spurs protest at Wadura campus

Sopore, Dec 2: Students of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST), Wadura in Sopore on Friday evening staged a protest against the alleged sexual harassment of a girl student by a varisty official.

Eyewitnesses told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that students gathered in SKUAST premises and staged a protest against the administration and demanded stern action against the accused.

Chanting slogans against the college authorities and the accused official, students said it was not the first time a complaint was filed against the accused coordinator. They alleged many incidents were not reported because of pressure from the authorities.

Authorities at SKUAST told KNO that a girl student (name withheld) on Thursday had complained against a RAWE programme coordinator of molesting her.

“An enquiry has been initiated into a very serious complaint of sexual harassment against the said coordinator filed by girl student,” said Dean SKUAST Rehana Habib Kanth.

“As of now, the said coordinator has been suspended and further investigations in this regard is underway,” she added.

A police official said that the family of the girl has lodged a complaint against the coordinator and they have filed a case and the accused will be behind bars.

He said that further investigations are going on. Pertinently, earlier this week, a girl student in Sopore’s Degree college had accused a college professor of sexually harassing her after which a panel to probe the allegation was constituted. The inquiry is pending in the case.

—(KNO)