Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was fined Rs 3,000 for allegedly “misbehaving” and “threatening” a girl student on the university campus last year.
The incident happened on June 10, 2015, when the woman was taking a walk inside the campus and objected to Mr. Kumar urinating in the open.
She has alleged that when she confronted Mr. Kumar, he “misbehaved” with her, called her a “psychopath” and threatened her with dire consequences. Mr Kumar on Thursday admitted paying the fine but did not comment any further.
The woman, now a teacher in Delhi University, filed a complaint with the JNU administration and a proctorial inquiry found Mr. Kumar guilty.
“The university...has found Kanhaiya Kumar guilty of misbehaving with an ex-student (female) and threatening her.”
“This act is serious in nature and unbecoming of a student of JNU and calls for a strict disciplinary action against him (Kanhaiya)... keeping his career prospects in mind, the Vice Chancellor has taken a lenient view in the matter,” said the office order issued on October 16, 2015 by the then Chief Proctor, Krishan Kumar.
“Kanhaiya is fined Rs 3,000 and also warned to be careful and not get involved in any such incidents in future. Otherwise, strict disciplinary action will be taken against him,” the order said.
Mr Kumar’s alleged misbehaviour last year came to light when the victim posted an unsigned order of the fine imposed on him on social media.
The university administration, in a statement later in the day, confirmed that the letter was authentic and action was taken against the student leader.
“I am dejected and pained to see how my JNU community has ganged up to create false revolutionary. I want to ask, do you really understand the D for Dignity of a female, Mr Kanhaiya?
“Unzipping your private part in public and urinating on (the) road-- are these your revolutionary tools to uphold a female's dignity? I am shocked to see how a misogynist like Kanhaiya is being hailed as revolutionary,” she said in an open letter that is circulating online.
Meanwhile, the All India Students Federation (AISF), the student party to which Mr. Kumar belongs, said in a statement: “Talk about public urination and threatening (sic) are being spread to malign Kanhaiya's image. He had a verbal argument with the girl following which she had registered a complaint.
“We do respect the girl's right to criticise Kanhaiya but we want to reiterate that he has always stood for gender justice. Also, when the incident took place, he was not the president of the students' union,” it added.
