GMERS Associate professor acquitted in sexual harassment case due to lack of evidence
Ahmedabad: Due to insufficient evidence, an Ahmedabad local court recently acquitted an associate professor at GMERS Medical College in Sola in a 2018 sexual harassment case of a medical student.
The case was brought against the associate professor by a fourth-year MBBS student who accused him of molesting her in a college elevator in June 2018. She also claimed that the doctor made an inappropriate proposal when she sought his assistance with tuition.
During the hearing, a total of 14 witnesses including the complainant were examined, and nine documentary pieces of evidence were produced. The advocate representing the accused argued that the complaint was fabricated after the associate professor refused to grant the student additional marks in her internal examination.
The defence also raised concerns over the delay in filing the First Information Report (FIR) by the complainant and pointed out that the student failed to produce a video recording regarding what she claimed was recorded on her mobile during the incident.
As per the TOI news report, On June 26, 2018, the student filed a complaint asserting that the doctor made an inappropriate proposal when she sought his assistance with tuition. She stated that this incident took place on June 19, 2018, and subsequently reported the issue to several authorities, including the college’s gender committee and the State Commission for Women, before submitting a formal complaint to the police. Following this, a case was registered against him under Section 354A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
In this regard, the court noted that “The complainant claimed to have a video recording on her mobile, but she did not produce it before any authority, including the police. The intention on the part of the complainant to record a video when she approached the accused for tuition itself is suspicious and casts doubts on the incident.”
After the trial, an additional JMFC at Ahmedabad (rural) court, C K Rathod said “Except for the complainant, there was no eyewitness to the incident which allegedly had taken place in the lift.”
