No end to Stephen’s row: Research scholar who alleged molestation files fresh complaint with police

In her complaint, filed late on Thursday, she claimed that her research material was missing and her stipend cheque had “stop payment” written on it.

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Giving his version of the events, Mehta told a press conference on Friday, “We were not allowed to enter the laboratory and when we finally managed to get in, we were locked in. I was manhandled and false accusations were levied on the victim, claiming that she had broken a fibre optical cable worth Rs 5 lakh.

“But once the police arrived, we thought everything would be resolved. We were shocked to find that a police complaint had been lodged against us, so we had to do something,” he said.

Ashish Joshi from the Association of Old Stephanians and Kavita Krishnan, secretary of All India Progressive Women’s Association, who were present at the conference, also questioned the “silence” of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and DU Vice-Chancellor Dinesh Singh.

They also raised questions on why the accused had not been arrested and no charges had been pressed against Thampu.
“Despite bodies like the MHRD and NCW being present in Delhi, we are concerned that no action has been taken so far. Thampu, instead of acting like a custodian, seems to be on a destructive mode. We want the MHRD to give directions to the UGC to constitute a fact-finding team,” said Joshi.

Criticising the DU’s alleged inaction, Krishnan said, “Why has DU not given the scholar a new supervisor yet?”

St Stephen’s Media Advisor Karen Gabriel, however, claimed that due process had to be followed in the case.

“We had done our investigation scrupulously and now the matter is in court. In my opinion, it is foolhardy and dangerous to try and bypass due process,” she said.