JNU sacking, then FIR: Congress MP faces harassment charges
What began as quiet complaints whispered among students at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has now exploded into a formal criminal case. Days after the university abruptly dismissed him, Congress Lok Sabha MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam has been booked by Delhi Police on charges of sexual harassment and insulting a woman’s modesty.
Delhi Police registered an FIR on Sunday night at Vasant Kunj North police station under Sections 75, 75(1)(i), 75(1)(iv), and 79 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. JNU’s Chief Security Officer filed the complaint, submitted documents from the university’s Internal Committee, and requested legal action. Akoijam, who was a professor at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems until last week, was dismissed from his post effective immediately on October 9.
The decision, signed by Vice-Chancellor Santishree D Pandit, followed the Internal Committee’s recommendation of a severe penalty after it reviewed complaints submitted by 11 female students.
The university said it followed due process and that the findings meant his dismissal complied with the service rules.
The complaints were submitted in mid-May and spread after one student described an alleged incident during a viva in a private WhatsApp group; other students then came forward with similar accounts.
The inquiry revealed that the women reported being subjected to sexually suggestive comments in class and during exams. They said they were asked personal questions about their dating lives and relationships, experienced unwanted physical contact, and had viva interviews late at night at the professor’s on-campus house. They also alleged that sexual advances were made at social events held there.
Some women students also mentioned that they had been offered better grades in return for sexual favours and that sexually explicit material had been shown without warning.
The situation has now gone beyond the campus boundaries. Student groups had previously protested delays in the university’s procedure. On Monday, the BJP’s women’s wing marched towards the Congress headquarters, demanding that the party take action against one of its own MPs. Within JNU, some teaching staff members have questioned whether the Vice-Chancellor alone had the authority to order dismissal without first referring the matter to the Executive Council.
The incident has reignited debates at the university about classroom power, the influence of Internal Committees, and where academic life ends, and political ambition begins. For Congress, this means a current member of parliament from a sensitive state is facing both institutional and criminal investigations. Police have not made any arrests.
What started as an internal disciplinary issue has now become a criminal investigation into alleged sexual harassment and insult to a woman’s modesty. Both cases are still ongoing; Akoijam remains a Member of Parliament. His roles as a lawmaker and former academic now clash with the allegations, which he continues to deny.
Akoijam, elected to Parliament in 2024 from the Inner Manipur seat and known for raising Manipur issues, has firmly denied the accusations. He described the university’s action as a political witch-hunt, questioned the inquiry’s fairness, and said the public allegations do not match the Internal Committee’s records. He also said he has nothing to hide.
