HC orders verdict on Iranian student harassment case to be given in 3 months

The Allahabad high court has ordered the court of district and session judge Kalpana Mishra to dispose of the case of eve teasing and sexual harassment of a female Iranian student of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) within three months. The court issued the order after considering an appeal filed by the victim. Assistant professor Bilal Mustafa Khan, the accused teacher of AMU, produced himself in court on Thursday. The next hearing of the case has been scheduled for September 9, 2016.

Speaking to HT, advocate Gopal Krisna Jauhari, the woman’s legal counsel said, “The victim had appealed to the high court to dispose of her case on priority as she is a foreigner. The case has been progressing slowly. On Thursday, the high court considered her appeal and issued orders for disposing of the case within three months.”

It may be recalled that an Iranian woman research scholar of management studies (AMU) had lodged an FIR on May 9, 2014, at civil lines police station, against her supervisor, assistant professor Bilal Mustafa Khan, alleging sexual harassment.

According to her complaint, Khan sent her indecent message on WhatsApp. She had also alleged that while the accused avoided her in public, he questioned her “about her boyfriends” whenever the two were together.

Complaining about police inaction in the matter, the woman said that her FIR was registered only after she approached SSP Aligarh.