Demand for Thampu's ouster grows shriller

Stepping up their protests against St Stephen’s College Principal Valson Thampu, students and teachers of Delhi University and women rights activists on Monday demanded his resignation over his poor handling of a molestation case. On his part, Thampu said that he would resign if it was proved that he was “a cause of embarrassment to the institution”.

His comments came in the wake of the allegations leveled by a PhD scholar that she was molested by an assistant professor in the Chemistry department and Thampu had tried to protect the accused by pressurising her not to treat the issue as that of sexual harassment.“If I am a cause of embarrassment to the institution and it is objectively proved, I will put in my papers that very moment,” Thampu said. 

Thampu also claimed that the research scholar was “coached to plot him in the issue” and alleged that the ones pretending to be her helpers are the “handlers” of the controversy. He said that the complainant has admitted that she has been recording the conversations with me from the very first day. “It is understandable that someone tapes the conversation with another, after having experienced something fishy or hostile… In this case, the interaction began as a sting. This points very strongly to the possibility that doing the sting was the very purpose of her coming to me. Please note- I say the possibility, not certainty,” he said.

Thampu has been embroiled in controversies ever since he took over as college’s principal in 2008. Representatives of student bodies, including All India Students’ Association and Students Federation of India,  staged a protest outside the St Stephen’s College, demanding that he be removed from office pending an enquiry against him. Activists from All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), Centre for Struggling Women (CSW), Saheli and All India Progressive Women Association (AIPWA), among other women organisations, also joined them in demanding justice for the victim.

Meanwhile, the woman complainant has submitted a request to the Delhi University Vice-Chancellor requesting for appointment of a new supervisor for her, while the issue is being probed.While the Delhi University has refused to intervene in the issue, the Union Human Resources Development Ministry has directed the University Grants Commission (UGC) to ensure the probe is conducted “expeditiously” and “impartially”. UGC has appointed an official to oversee the proceedings of the college’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) regarding the row.The victim, however, has refused to appear before the ICC saying she has lost faith in the committee’s proceedings and she is seeking redress elsewhere.