Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union office-bearers quit over sexual harassment allegations

The president and joint secretary of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) have resigned from their posts a week after allegations of sexual harassment against them surfaced.

Posters declaring that the two no longer hold their offices appeared in the campus on Monday.

A female student had lodged a complaint with the university's gender sensitisation committee against sexual harassment (GSCASH) against JNUSU president Akbar Chowdhary and joint secretary Sarfaraz Hamid but the issue was kept under wraps as per GSCASH rules of confidentiality.

However, the two made a public declaration that a case has been filed against them and that they will resign from their posts if the committee takes up the inquiry.

The move, which many claimed was a stunt, backfired when GSCASH chided the two for coming out in public. According to GSCASH, such a public declaration "only increases rumour mongering within the student community, whisper campaigns and speculation regarding the nature and details of the case as well as the name of the complainan. It is precisely to avoid such a situation in which there are attempts to find who the complainant(s) is/are and make attempts to pressurise him/her that a restraint order is issued to the defendants and the process of inquiry is kept confidential".