Sexual harassment on campus: AIDWA slams Pondicherry Univ for

All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) today condemned the alleged victimisation of two girl students of University of Pondicherry who were suspended after they complained of sexual harassment and ragging by senior male students on the varsity's campus.
Demanding that the suspension order against the two girls and five other students who had supported them be withdrawn at once, AIDWA said it will approach the National Commission for Women and the University Grants Commission for justice.
"It is shocking that instead of taking immediate action against the male students who had harassed the girls and threatened to rape them if they complained, the university has chosen to suspend the two girls for a period of six months, saying they had 'defamed' the university," AIDWA General Secretary, Sudha Sundararaman, said.

She further alleged that even to get an inquiry initiated in the matter, the aggrieved girls and members of students' organisations had to hold protests and demonstrations.
"Such action by university authorities is totally against the law, which does not allow any kind of victimisation of those who make a complaint of sexual harassment. The girl students are being penalised for demanding justice," she said.
Apart from seeking revocation of the suspensions of the two girls and the five other students, AIDWA also demanded that a proper inquiry be held against the youths accused of harassing the girls.
It also called upon the university to formulate a sexual harassment complaints committee, along the lines of complaint committees set up by other universities in the country.