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Harassment charges against Delhi University official

Staff Reporter

"I'm being harassed both as a woman and as an employee"

NEW DELHI: The Officer on Special Duty at Delhi University's Gandhi Bhawan, Anamika Sharma, has levelled charges of sexual and mental harassment against its Director for allegedly being rude to her and making comments with sexual overtones.

Accusing Prof. Bidyut Chakraborty, who is also the Head of the Political Science Department of Delhi University, Dr. Sharma has claimed that she was being harassed both as a woman and as an employee. "He has insulted and hurt my dignity as a woman and an employee. I have brought this matter to the notice of higher authorities, but all of them have been siding with him. I'm scared but I will keep fighting till I get redressed at both the levels," Dr. Sharma said on Monday.

Problem

She has approached Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Deepak Pental and Gandhi Bhawan Chairman Feroz Ahmad on the issue but "to no avail".

Apparently, the problem had been going on ever since Prof. Chakraborty took over as honorary Director of Gandhi Bhawan last year. Dr. Sharma claimed that he made "bad-intentioned" gestures towards her since the very beginning of his tenure.

"He asked me to sit next to him while discussing official matters. Initially I ignored these things as women generally tend to do. But after that, he made a practice to harass me on some pretext or the other."

Apart from a lot of sexually explicit remarks, he also allegedly took a dig at her personal life, commenting on her separation from her husband, said Dr. Sharma. Accusing him of mentally torturing her, she said: "He would insult me by bypassing me and giving my work to my juniors. But if the work was not done, he would shout at me in front of everyone."

Prof. Chakraborty was not available for comment despite repeated attempts.

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