Sexual harassment: GNDU non-teaching staff, security team refute charges levelled by ex-employee

Neha Saini

Amritsar, July 4

The GNDU Non-teaching Employees Association, Officers Association and security team members today addressed a press conference regarding a case in which a former woman employee, who was a member of the Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) campus security team, had levelled charges of sexual harassment against her three colleagues, including the chief of the security.

The former woman employee, who was hired as campus security in the year 2022, has written to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Amritsar Commissioner of Police (CP) alleging that she was sexually harassed by three members of the GNDU security team while requesting filing of formal charges against them.

Refuting these allegations, GNDU Non-Teaching Employee Association president Hardeep Nagra said, “The complaint filed by the former employee with the Amritsar CP was marked to a seven-member internal Committee of the GNDU, which found the allegations baseless. Also, the university security team has previously filed complaint against the woman guard, now terminated, finding her guilty on the disciplinary grounds, including disobeying seniors, not wearing uniform and even harassing students of girls’ hostel where she was posted. So, it seems that these allegations have been levelled in retaliation.”

The chief of GNDU campus security, who was named one of the suspects in the complaint filed by a former employee, also refuted the allegations. He said, “These allegations were levelled after her she lost her job. It’s understood that that she wants to get back to us. We received several complaints against her and also conducted an internal inquiry in this connection. When her job was terminated, she started levelling allegations against us.”

The university has around 200 security staff, out of which more than 150 are outsourced from a private company on contractual basis and only 11 members are regular. Among them, only 10 security members are women.

Meanwhile, the woman complainant, a resident of Kot Khalsa, counter challenged the allegations levelled against her character and conduct by the campus security team. “I was hired as a contractual employee and deployed at working women’s hostel. As I come from a poor family and my parents are dependent on me, I needed this job. Since past three years, I was facing sexual advances and misconduct by three members of the campus security team. I have complained to the Amritsar CP and at the CM’s office. Now, the police are not registering an FIR in this connection,” she said.

While taking cognisance of the complaint, CP Ranjit Singh Dhillon said, “The case has been marked to the DCP’s office for an inquiry. Soon all the facts will be reviewed.”