Action against IIT-Kanpur teacher after girl student complains of ‘inappropriate conduct’

A foreign girl student levelled allegations of "inappropriate conduct" against a faculty member, prompting the IIT-Kanpur to remove him immediately from his teaching responsibilities, the institute said on Tuesday.

"Last week, a complaint was filed by a girl student against a faculty member for inappropriate conduct," the premier institution said in a statement.

It said, "The internal complaints committee of the institute started investigations under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act following the Supreme Court guidelines." "Immediately, on recommendations of the panel, the faculty member was removed from teaching responsibilities of the course in which the girl student was registered," the institute said.

The institute said it had a zero-tolerance policy against any "deviant behaviour" and strict action would be initiated once the recommendations of the panel were submitted.

When contacted, Deputy Director Manindra Agrawal declined to disclose the nationality of the girl student.

"In order to protect the identity of the complainant as required by the law, the institute requests everyone, including media, to exercise restraint and not to reveal any details about the complainant while reporting the incident," the statement added.