Chennai: The Madras High Court, in a recent hearing on Madras Christian College (MCC) sexual harassment case, pronounced that there is a ‘general feeling’ among parents, especially those of girl students, that ‘co-educational study in Christian institutions is highly unsafe for the future of their children’.
A section of MCC alumni students state that the management is not inclined to bring justice to the complainant students in such cases.
However, when News Today contacted a staff from the college, the source affirmed that two professors held guilty – Samuel Tennyson and R Raveen – have been dismissed, and added that the college has started taking measures for the safety of students.
“Unless the victim opens up, we never know what the issue is and the students have just begun to come out and talk about it. Until a few years ago, we did not have a counsellor to address such sensitive problems. Now we have dedicated staff besides providing help by the Social Work department,” said the source.
The source further said the staff get first person account from the students. “We concentrate on the victim to prevent negative outcomes.”
Christian institutions are pioneers in inculcating values and HC’s statement will fade away, the source said when asked about the controversial remark by the judicial body.
On the other hand, several alumni recount their experiences of harassment with one of the zoology department professors found guilty. The former students who were guided by him state that they had to behave the way he wanted to earn credits.
An alumnus, said, “The management does not favour students. It is evident from the recent sexual harassment case. It was clear in the numerous fights we had with the dean and principal in our senior years.”
Asked about Madras HC’s statements, she said, “I think the statement will cause panic among parents and turn them against co-ed and Christian colleges and will not fix the situation. Every institution does moral policing, especially of females and other gender minorities. The need of the hour is not to create divisions and panic but to fix a broken system of education where you do not talk about issues like causal sex, gender inequality and sexual harassment. It’s not like non-Christian institutions are free of these cases.”
“No institution follows the established protocol when a sexual harassment case is filed. By fixing a curfew for women and imposing other gender-based restrictions, we are showing that it is the burden of the woman to protect herself and keep herself safe which sends a wrong message,” she added.
Several MCC alumni disagreed with the High Court observation and said the issue should be seen without giving it communal colour.
| THE CASE |
| During the zoology department excursion to Karnataka, many women students were allegedly sexually harassed by the two professors. Following this, the victims lodged an anonymous complaint with the head of the department. Since there was no action on this, they wrote a formal letter to the HoD. After protests erupted from the side of the students, an Internal Complaints Committee was formed and the staff members were found guilty and dismissed. |