JU Prof. Defends his case

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, March 10, 2007
Monojit Mondol, a lecturer of English at Jadavpur University who has alleged sexual harassment by 16 students, on Saturday said he has been a victim of jealousy and casteism on the campus.
“Not only sexual harassment, but I have also been subjected to criminal assault,” said Mondol. “Students and university officials have been sending letters to my wife and me threatening with our lives and have also hacked into my cellphone. The matter is being investigated by the CID,” said Mondol.
Mondol claims obscene remarks were written by the students in the answer scripts. The remarks were inserted between lines and on separate sheets stapled with the answer papers. But why is the professor crying harassment? Mondol says, “We lead an affluent life which many do not like. They want to defame me and want me to leave the university.”
Mondol has also moved the high court and has held back the offending answer scripts, delaying the results of all students of the MA (optional) exam. “I submitted photocopies of the answer scripts in question. But the university has neither taken any step nor given me any letter urging me to deposit the answer scripts.”
As for the delayed results, Mondal is not worried. “It is the headache of the university to publish the results, not mine. I am only bothered about the 16 answer scripts.”
But why did he not submit the scripts? “The moment I show it, the student would have gone to the sexual harassment cell saying I had written the comments.” Registrar Rajat Bandopadhyay has said that the university was conducting an inquiry. He did not say anything about asking Mondol for the answer scripts.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com