UoH needs a proactive gender sensitisation committee: students

HYDERABAD: There is a need for a more proactive University of Hyderabad (UoH) Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) committee that is more approachable and inspires trust in students to avoid such incidents, said a top University official.

A top university official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, recalls a major case involving a female student from the northeast and a Philosophy Professor some years ago. The GSCASH had even found him guilty, but the then-Vice Chancellor let him off the hook, the official claimed.

The official even stated, "There was a time when the GSCASH, now known as the ICC, was led by well-known academics such as Magsaysay Award winner Professor Shantha Sinha and feminist scholar Professor Sheela Prasad. However, the committee is no longer taken seriously, and it has had a string of ineffective chairs who do not inspire much respect or trust among the student body."

"We need a more pro-active GSCASH that is approachable and evokes trust in the students to prevent such incidents", he added.

According to UoH Student Union President Abhishek Nandan, "This incident could have been avoided if GSCASH had created an environment that would make such predators afraid to commit such heinous acts. The victim, like the rest of the student body, is terrified and feels unsafe on campus".

"Now that he's been arrested and suspended, we've called off the protest. We demand that he be punished severely. We also hope that the GSCASH committee will create a safe environment for students in which predators will reconsider committing such crimes a hundred times", he added.

Protests erupted at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) campus after a rape attempt on an international student was reported on Saturday. Several students gathered outside the University campus and expressed their outrage at the incident.

University of Hyderabad (UoH) Professor Ravi Ranjan, who's has been charged with attempt to rape case on an International student has been taken into custody on Saturday. The University has also suspended him with immediate effect.