The Director of the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI), on Friday confirmed that a Delhi-based student complained that a senior official of the Directorate of Film Festival (DFF), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, sexually harassed her, just ahead of the festival.
Media pressure
After much prodding by media persons on the sidelines of a function, the director, Shankar Mohan, confirmed that he received a complaint from a JNU student on November 18, two days before the IFFI inaugural, accusing a DFF officer of the rank of Deputy Director of sexual harassment.
He said the girl was in Goa to assist the Soul of Asia and World Cinema sections of the festival.
Following the complaint, Mr. Mohan said he immediately constituted a three-member internal committee comprising two government officials and one filmmaker from outside.
All three committee members were women.
‘No conclusive evidence’
“We told the girl to depose freely before the committee. She gave a written statement.The committee spoke to her other female companions and then her. He [the official] flatly denied the incident and accusations. We have not arrived at any conclusive evidence. He tendered an unconditional apology,” said Mr. Mohan.
Officer too leaves for Delhi
The girl resigned and left the IFFI venue for Delhi after that.
The officer has also left for Delhi, Mr. Mohan added.
However, despite repeated queries from mediapersons, Mr. Mohan refrained from naming the officer.
