SNDT University sends hostel warden accused of harassment on leave

Students protest at SNDT University's Juhu campus on Monday

Hostel warden Rachana Jhaveri from SNDT Women's University's Juhu campus, accused of asking a student to strip to prove her skin infection, was on Monday asked to go on indefinite leave, a day after other pupils held a massive protest.

The varsity has set up a three-member committee to inquire into the case and decide further course of action. While an FIR has been filed at the Santacruz police station, the vice chancellor of the university met the protesting students late on Monday.

Back-to-back protests
On Sunday evening, a massive protest had erupted after a second-year engineering student from Usha Mittal Institute of Technology was allegedly asked by Jhaveri to strip to prove her claim of having a skin infection.

Angry students had begun agitating, demanding sacking of the warden, against whom several students have many pending complaints, such as invasion of privacy, stringent rules on attire, and character assassination of girls having boyfriends. Unrest continued on campus on Monday too with students demanding to meet Vice Chancellor Dr Shashikala Vanjari. Students were angry that the VC had not kept her word of meeting them. They staged a dharna at the main gate of the campus until she met them.

The institute going ahead with the internal exam despite these goings on agitated the students even more, and many of them said the exam could have easily been postponed.

Anger spills over
"None of us could do justice to the exam as most of us were busy recording our statements at the police station. Forget about studying for the paper, we were so stressed, we couldn't focus at all. It was very insensitive of the institute [to not postpone the exam]," complained one student.

Another said, "The VC was out of town yesterday; we were understanding about that. But the least she could have done was to come and meet us on coming back, because that's what was promised to us. Instead of fixing our meeting with her, authorities told us to go back to our rooms and wait to hear from the administration. If we hadn't continued the protest, the administration would have gone cold."

Officialspeak
Terming the incident as an unfortunate one, the varsity released a statement last evening that read: "Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women's University takes serious cognition of the complaint filed by students as an individual as well as Juhu Hostel group against SNDTWU Juhu Hostel Warden Ms. Rachana Jhaveri in the light of an incident that took place yesterday afternoon. An inquiry committee has been instituted consisting of three members, including [a] member from Management Council.

The Committee will submit its report in three days. The hostel warden has been asked to go on indefinite leave and has been asked not to enter campus premises. SNDTWU follows zero-tolerance policy and will not allow any act of discrimination or intimidation against any of its 50,000 students (sic)." The probe is on, but there hasn't been any arrest. "We've called the warden for her statement," said a senior officer.

Also read: Mumbai: SNDT students protest against dress code gets judge's backing

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