Clerk transferred in PU sexual harassment case

Amarjot Kaur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 16

The clerk against whom some 25 research scholars from a department in Panjab University (PU) and PURSA (Panjab University Research Scholars Association) levelled charges of sexual harassment was transferred to PU’s Publication Bureau today.

PU Registrar Prof Karamjit Singh shared, “I had already signed his transfer letter on Monday evening and he probably received the letter today. The clerk is essentially a ‘daftari’, an erstwhile job title for a ‘filer’. He’d be looking after book binding and other such jobs now.”

The varsity’s decision of transferring the clerk concerned comes a week after scholars wrote to Vice-Chancellor Prof Raj Kumar about four issues they faced at the department. “The clerk is resorting to cheap tactics, which amounts to sexual harassment as per the definition of PUCASH,” the letter stated. When this correspondent spoke to the scholars of the department, they, on the condition of anonymity, confessed to being on the receiving end of inappropriate touching and sexually tainted remarks made by the clerk. “He would find a chance to touch us and each time he did, we felt uncomfortable. He also passed lewd comments on how we dressed. The clerk was close to the chairperson and was given additional responsibility of marking attendance and sanctioning leaves to the department’s research scholars, so we didn’t want to be in his bad books and tolerated his nuisance for a long time,” said the scholars.