The internal inquiry on a sexual harassment complaint against an assistant professor at Government Thoothukudi Medical College had been completed and the report sent to the Directorate of Medical Education, said Dean S. Balasubramanian.
Speaking to The Hindu , Dr. Balasubramanian said that the inquiry was conducted by a three-member committee of women doctors with the entire batch of students and the assistant professor concerned. Specific inquiry with the victims could not be conducted as the complaint was anonymous. “The response from the DME is awaited,” he said.
After the anonymous complaint was dropped in the complaint box, the inquiry was started against N. Kandasamy, assistant professor in Orthopaedics department.
In the complaint, the students said that they had suffered sexual abuse and threats from him. They had chosen to remain anonymous fearing repercussions, the complaint said. Over the last few days, members of two student bodies – Compulsory Rotatory Residential Internship (CRRI) Council and Students Council of GTKMC – have distanced themselves from the complaint.
In two separate but near-identical letters addressed to the Dean, the student bodies said that they came to know that an anonymous ‘false complaint’ was dropped in the complaint box and that they were in no way connected to it.
Meanwhile, People’s Empowerment Organisation, run by advocate E. Athisaya Kumar, in a petition sent to the Dean, demanded expansion of the internal complaints committee to have nine members, including the Medical Superintendent, Resident Medical Officer, two more women faculty members, a social worker and a lawyer, in accordance with the Visaka guidelines.
Further, the assistant professor should be transferred until the investigation was over to prevent any possible influencing of complainants, the petition said.
