JNU professor faces sexual harassment allegations from students

Eleven students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have filed a complaint with the university’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), alleging sexual harassment by a professor, according to university sources.The complaint was filed in May this year, following which the ICC, the university body tasked with examining allegations of sexual harassment, began proceedings, the sources said.The JNU administration did not respond to queries sent by HT seeking comment on the matter.The latest complaint comes amid a previous sexual harassment case at the university involving a senior faculty member.

In April last year, JNU’s executive council dismissed four staff members, including a teaching faculty member accused of sexual harassment and three others in a corruption case.The faculty member dismissed in the sexual harassment case was identified as Swaran Singh, a senior professor at JNU’s School of International Studies, HT reported at that time.

He was terminated over allegations of sexually harassing a Japanese official from the Embassy of Japan, an official aware of the matter said at the time.The official said the Japanese official, who coordinated with professors for academic events, had filed a complaint after her last meeting with Singh. “There was clear evidence against Singh, which led to his dismissal,” the official said, adding that multiple complaints had allegedly been made against him in the past.A senior faculty member, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the incident had taken place in May 2024 and that the committee had conducted an extensive investigation, during which both sides were given an opportunity to present witnesses.