NBW against three AU faculty members

Prayagraj (UP), May 2 The Prayagraj district court has issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against three senior faculty members of the Allahabad University (AU) in connection with a case lodged against them for allegedly harassing a woman colleague.

The FIR was registered at Colonelganj police station in August 2016 on the complaint of the assistant professor.

Meanwhile, the university said its committee against sexual harassment, which had conducted a probe into the complaint, found the allegations to be "frivolous" and "insubstantial".

In her complaint, the AU assistant professor had said the three accused, who were senior to her, held a grudge against her as she belonged to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community. They harassed and insulted her following which she lodged a complaint with the National Women's Commission, the SC/ST commission and even police officials.

On August 4, 2016, one of the accused, who was the head of a department, allegedly called the complainant to his chambers where the two other accused faculty members were already present.

She claimed that the three accused insulted her with casteist remarks and made her stand before them for an hour.

A case was registered in this connection, but the three senior professors approached the Allahabad High Court and got a stay on their arrest. The police have filed a chargesheet in the case, a police official said.

The in-charge of the Colonelganj police station (acting), Feroz Khan, said an NBW has been issued against the three teachers.

An AU spokesperson said, "An exhaustive investigation was conducted by the committee, which found her complaint to be insubstantial. The assistant professor had not responded to the questionnaire sent by the committee, and did not have evidence to back up her allegations."