The internal inquiry committee, which probed charges of sexual harassment made by a research scholar against her guide in Bangalore University’s Postgraduate Centre in Kolar, has found the charges to be true.
The committee’s report was submitted to Vice-Chancellor B. Thimme Gowda on Saturday. The panel recommended dismissal of accused Ka. Vem Srinivas Murthy, but the Syndicate on Monday only withheld his promotion since there is no police case, sources said. Prof. Gowda told reporters, “The report has been accepted. . We have decided to keep his promotion (from Associate Professor to Professor) in abeyance. We will now seek legal opinion.”
The scholar filed the complaint with the VC in March. BU asked the guide to go on two weeks’ leave. Registrar (Administration) K.K. Seethamma said BU changed the guide. A member of the inquiry committee, on condition of anonymity, said that Prof. Murthy allegedly offered to drop the student to her home in Malur, but instead forced her to accompany him to Markandeshwara hill in Kolar. “We let both parties explain the sequence of events in front of each other and found evidence against the guide.”