Professor booked for sexual harassment of girl student

Vadodara/Anand: A student of interior design has alleged that she along with others were sexually harassed by their professor in education town Vallabh Vidyanagar in Anand district.
The student, a resident of Manjalpur area of Vadodara, has registered a complaint at Vidyanagar police station alleging that her professor Dhaval Panchatara had sexually harassed her by touching her body parts during a lecture in first week of August.
In her complaint which was registered on Friday evening, the student of H M Patel School of Interior Design has also alleged that the college principal Kavita Patel took the professor's side when she was informed about the crime.
H M Patel School of Interior Design located near Bhaikaka Library is managed by Charutar Vidya Mandal and affiliated to Sardar Patel University (SPU).
The complainant has stated that she along with her classmates had reported about the harassment by Panchatara to Patel, who instead of acting against the professor, threatened the girl students that they will be failed during their forthcoming examinations if they registered any complaint.
Vidyanagar police have registered the complaint against Panchatara under section 354 (A) (1) (5) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) for sexual harassment and against Patel under IPC section 114 as abettor to the crime.
"We are taking statements of witnesses and investigating the matter further," said investigating officer police sub inspector A C Parmar. Student outfits have demanded immediate action against the accused professor and the principal.
"We will not tolerate such crimes against girl students. The management has failed to take action against the professor despite receiving complaint from the female students who had to ultimately go to police to get their voice heard. If still no action is taken against the accused, we will launch a major stir," said Alpesh Purohit, general secretary of Youth Congress' state unit.