Delhi tops list of sex harassment cases: HRD minister Smriti Irani

NEW DELHI: Delhi tops the list of sexual harassment cases in higher educational institutes in the country. HRD minister Smriti Z Irani told Lok Sabha on Wednesday that 75 cases of sexual harassment cases in higher educational institutes have been reported between April 2014 and March this year, 27 of which are from Delhi alone.

Uttar Pradesh is at the second position with 23 cases. Irani said the figure is based on an annual report received by UGC about cases of sexual harassment against women lecturers, professors and research scholars from 84 universities.

Among other states, seven cases were reported from Haryana, six from Odisha, two each in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Tripura and one each in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Karnataka and Assam. Irani said two cases have been received from NIT, one from IGNOU and NEUPA. "UGC has also reported that complaints have been received against the heads or members of faculties of Punjab University, Jadavpur University, TERI and St Stephens College, Delhi," she said.

Cases have also been reported against faculty members of Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar and Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat. Irani said UGC has sent advisory to all the institutes to have a committee and a separate cell to deal with issues of gender based violence, most of the higher educational institutes have reported concurrence.