TISS to look into sexual assault plaint of alumnus

The perpetrator was invited by the institute to present a paper in a conference and he had sexually assaulted the student during that period STUDENT, TISS

MUMBAI: Almost two weeks after a former student of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) filed a complaint with the institute’s internal complaints committee (ICC) alleging that he was sexually assaulted on campus, the institute has assured students that an inquiry on the complaint will start in a week.

This decision comes after student groups demanded action against the alleged accused, who in this case is not a student of TISS.

“The perpetrator was invited by the institute to present a paper in a conference and he had sexually assaulted the student during that period. We believe the perpetrator, who was a guest of the institute, should be held accountable” said a student from the institute on condition of anonymity.

Initially, the management of the institute was not sure about the further course of action because by the time the complaint was made, the survivor was not a student of the institute and the alleged perpetrator was not a part of the institute at all.

The incident first came to light two weeks ago, when the ICC of the institute received a complaint by a former student, who narrated the February 2017 incident, when he was sexually assaulted by an invitee visiting the campus for a conference.

The complainant , who has not yet come out to his family about his sexual orientation, did not register a complaint with the institute or police at the time of the incident due to the fear of being implicated under section 377 of the IPC.

“It has taken a lot of effort for the survivor to talk about his ordeal. We believe the institute should take this matter very seriously,” said another student, and added that the ICC has assured an expert committee will start an inquiry within a week.

Shalini Bharat, TISS director, could not be reached and the dean of student affairs, Asha Bano did not respond to calls or messages.