Girl students of the elite School of Drama of the Calicut University at Thrissur are on a path of agitation against sexual abuse by some of the faculty members. Women Against Sexual Harassment, an initiative by girl students alleged in a social media post that Raja Warrier, a guest faculty and S Sunil Kumar, a permanent faculty member were sexually abusing girl students and the complaints by the victims have not evoked any response from the college or university authorities.
Students of School of Drama said in a statement that Raja Warrior, a guest faculty, had physically abused a girl student on 21 November 2021 in open class and despite the complaint by the victim no action has been taken by the college authorities.
The students said Warrior insulted and humiliated the victim even after the conclusion of the class and threatened her with dire consequences of she complained to the authorities.
This was followed by sexual abuse and threats by Sunil Kumar (46), a permanent member of the faculty. “He was persuading the student to watch Irrational Man, a movie based on the romance between a college professor and his girl student. Sunil Kumar, to whom the girl student had confided about her pathetic experience with Warrior, started calling her over phone during night hours and seeking favours from her. Most of the time he would be in an inebriated condition,” said the post by Women Against Sexual Harassment.
The posting further says that the faculty member raped the student many times and this forced her to resort to the extreme step of committing suicide.
But she was saved from the jaws of death by her hostel roommates who took her to the hospital in a serious condition. The teacher continued tormenting her in hospital too and threatened her that he would commit suicide if she discloses anything about the rape. “The same teacher told her colleagues and other faculty members that the girl was under hallucination and speaks incoherently. He asked us not to believe what she was saying,” said another girls student.
School of Drama is the alma mater of Malayalam movie makers like Ranjith and Syamaprasad. In its heyday, the institution was led by G Sankara Pillai, the doyen of Malayalam drama and Vayala Vasudevan, a well known dramatist.
Both Warrior and Sunil Kumar were not available for comments. The students said that they would continue their agitation till the authorities take action against the offenders. The students further alleged that the Police was not helpful despite their pleas for justice and refused to initiate a probe.