Four days after Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Atul Johri was booked on charges of sexual harassment, the police arrested him on Tuesday. He was granted bail within a few hours.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South West) Milind Mahadeo Dumbere said Mr. Johri, professor at the School of Life Sciences, came to the police station on Tuesday afternoon after which he was questioned and arrested. He was produced in Patiala House Courts which granted him bail. “The police did not ask for custody. I can’t share further details because it’s a sensitive matter,” Mr. Dumbere said.
7 more FIRs
As the pressure grew from JNU students who demonstrated outside the Vasant Kunj North police station on Monday night, the police registered seven more First Information Reports in connection with the case in addition to the earlier FIR which was registered under Section 354 (sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code. “The other FIRs have been registered under other Sections,” said Mr Dumbere.
The court granted bail to Prof. Johri on a personal bond of ₹ 30,000 in each of the eight of sexual harassment cases with the condition that the accused should not hamper the investigation. The police wanted him to be sent to judicial custody as his interrogation was over. Moving the bail application, counsel for the accused submitted that sending him to jail would spoil his career.
Delhi Police chief spokesperson Dependra Pathak, however, claimed that the bail plea was opposed by the police citing the apprehension of complainants regarding intimidation from the accused as he is holding various authoritative positions at JNU.
Responding to the bail, JNUSU president Geeta Kumari said, “it’s disheartening. I have been told that he has been granted bail after he said his career will be destroyed but how many careers has he destroyed? The first girl who came out about the harassment she faced at his hands left her PhD because of him. There are eight women complaining against him, it should count for something.”
The complainants told the police that the professor often “made sexually coloured remarks, openly demanded sex and commented on the figure of almost every woman. If a woman objected, he held a grudge against her and threatened to ruin her research career.”
(With inputs from Nirnimesh Kumar)
