Police have requested additional information regarding multiple allegations of sexual harassment at University of Haripur (UoH) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), after the DPO said he was informed of several such incidents through social media.
The DPO said in a letter to the university's vice-chancellor that despite various allegations, no cases of sexual harassment had been reported to police by the university. The letter said that the failure to properly report these crimes to the relevant authorities caused 'resentment' among students, parents and the public.
The letter asked the UoH administration to provide details on the number of complaints of harassments reported, and the actions taken against the accused.
Previously, a group of students had written a letter to the Federal Ombudsperson against Harassment Kashmala Tariq accusing university administration of expelling a female student after she claimed a university staff person had sexually harassed her. The students claimed that the university was protecting the suspect.
In response, the UoH additional registrar stated that a three-member committee had begun collecting statements, but it was the complainant who had withdrawn her case. The registrar further stated that there had been three allegations of harassment at the school in the past three years. In only one of those cases was an accused employee fired as a result.
Another university official added that a female student had filed a complaint against an assistant professor from the department of public health for harassment. She had later decided to drop the case, and the professor denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
The DPO said in a letter to the university's vice-chancellor that despite various allegations, no cases of sexual harassment had been reported to police by the university. The letter said that the failure to properly report these crimes to the relevant authorities caused 'resentment' among students, parents and the public.
The letter asked the UoH administration to provide details on the number of complaints of harassments reported, and the actions taken against the accused.
Previously, a group of students had written a letter to the Federal Ombudsperson against Harassment Kashmala Tariq accusing university administration of expelling a female student after she claimed a university staff person had sexually harassed her. The students claimed that the university was protecting the suspect.
In response, the UoH additional registrar stated that a three-member committee had begun collecting statements, but it was the complainant who had withdrawn her case. The registrar further stated that there had been three allegations of harassment at the school in the past three years. In only one of those cases was an accused employee fired as a result.
Another university official added that a female student had filed a complaint against an assistant professor from the department of public health for harassment. She had later decided to drop the case, and the professor denied all allegations of wrongdoing.