‘Held my hands, grabbed neck’: NIT Silchar professor arrested following complaint of molestation by student

The development took place hours after the institute suspended the professor from the Electrical Engineering Department "with immediate effect" (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

An assistant professor at Assam’s National Institute of Technology (NIT) Silchar was reportedly taken into custody on Friday over allegations of sexually harassing a student.

Superintendent of Police, Cachar, Numal Mahatta confirmed that D Koteswara Raju, who has been suspended by NIT Silchar, was arrested from the institute’s campus based on separate complaints from the victim and her family, an NDTV report said.

“Initially, he tried to hide himself and locked the door of his quarter from outside but we traced his mobile phone location and detained him at around 5.30pm. He was later arrested under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS),” the report quoted a police officer as saying.

The development took place hours after the institute suspended the professor from the Electrical Engineering Department "with immediate effect" following a complaint by a Bachelor of Technology student.

The suspension came amid an overnight protest by students demanding action against the professor.

According to the victim, the professor sexually harassed her after summoning her to his chamber. In a written complaint to the institute, the woman alleged that he touched her inappropriately while discussing her low grades.

“He asked me to sit beside him... and asked me why I get less marks. He started holding my hands and touching my fingers. He then gradually held my thighs. He then started playing vulgar songs in his computer in front of me... touched my stomach and rubbed my stomach. I started crying but he did not stop,” the NDTV report quoted the letter.

“He asked me to feel comfortable and spread my legs properly. He then grabbed my neck from behind and kept holding it,” the letter read further.

According to the woman, she managed to escape after a friend, who was waiting for her outside the chamber, gave her a call.

NIT Silchar director Dilip Kumar Baidya reportedly chaired a meeting to review the case.