A full-time research scholar at Madurai Kamaraj University’s Centre for Film and Electronic Media Studies has filed a harassment complaint against her research guide and Head of the centre K. Karnamaharajan. But he has denied the charges.
In the complaint submitted to the Registrar of MKU, the scholar, a native of Kerala, has accused the professor of abusing her and demanding that she do everything he suggested, including sexual favours, if she wanted to obtain her Ph. D degree.
The scholar accused him of taking ₹ 2 lakh to admit her as a full-time scholar.
According to the complainant, he checked her daily schedule and attendance in the hostel. Recently, he issued a memo for being absent and threatened to cancel her Ph. D registration.
Refuting her allegations, Mr. Karnamaharajan said the research scholar, who completed her M. Phil in MKU and joined as a full-time scholar a year before, regularly absented herself without prior information and failed to complete her research-related tasks.
“I have messages, email communications and other records that will prove my innocence,” he said. The research scholar also submitted a complaint with the Convenor’s Committee of MKU that met at the campus on Saturday. While MKU Registrar V. Chinniah could not be reached for a comment, university officials said that the scholar had been asked to appear before a committee set up to enquire into the issue on Wednesday.
