Sexual harassment case: PhD student produces audio recording to counter Thampu’s claims

The girl had allegedly recorded the audio clip on July 16, when she had gone to the college to inquire about her cheques. The authenticity of the tape has not been verified yet.

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In an alleged conversation with office assistant Kishori Lal, the girl said that when she had come earlier to collect her cheque of Rs 36,000 for December 2014 and January 2015, a “stop payment” slip was attached to it.

The man, allegedly Lal, told her that the cheque has expired now. He also allegedly said that perhaps the accused, Satish Kumar, had given instructions to stop payment at the time.

The recording also suggests that when the girl asked for subsequent cheques from February onwards, Lal allegedly told her that he had not received orders to make further cheques. When the girl enquired why this was the case, Lal allegedly told her that she should ask Kumar, who gives the orders.

Thampu had uploaded images of two “cancelled” cheques on Friday to substantiate his claim. However, on July 17, Thampu had told PTI that the cheques weren’t prepared as it did not have her PhD guide’s signature.

In his post , Thampu reiterated that she was not a student of the college. “How can a person, who claims to be keen to have her stipend, refuse consistently to collect the cheques, unless it is to weave an illusion of victimisation by the college administration,” Thampu said.

The complainant’s lawyer Sunil Matthews said, “When the girl had gone to college on July 16 to inquire about her stipend, she was categorically told by the staff it has not been released by the accused. We have the audio recordings to prove it. Now when the HRD has intervened, these cheques have suddenly been produced. This is a shameful attempt to cast aspersions on the girl’s character.”

College officials could not be reached for comments.