Inquiry panel to probe assault of professor by DUSU joint secretary Deepika Jha

A six-member committee has been constituted by the Delhi University administration to probe the alleged assault of a faculty member at the Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar College by the Delhi University Students’ Union Joint Secretary Deepika Jha on Thursday.

Jha is part of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarti Parishad (ABVP) and was elected to the Joint Secretary post in the college union in September.

The committee will be chaired by Professor Neeta Sehgal from the Department of Zoology, and DU vice chancellor Yogesh Singh will direct the panel to submit a report within two weeks.

The incident is said to have occurred inside the office of the Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar College Principal during a disciplinary meeting on Thursday. A 32-second video had surfaced online that allegedly showed Jha slapping senior faculty member Professor Sujit Kumar of the Department of Commerce. Kumar is seen seated on the sofa with the other people. As the discussion escalated, Jha stood and allegedly slapped Kumar. The incident had taken place in the presence of the Delhi police. A female officer is seen interveneing and taking Jha away, seating her and someone else pushes Kumar back to his seat.

The disciplinary meeting was called by Sujit Kumar to discuss a recent incident of violence, which involved ABVP members allegedly assaulting other students, according to the Democratic Teachers Front.

The incident was widely condemned by university teachers and student organisations. The Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) held a protest on the north campus on Friday.

What Deepika Jha said

Jha admitted to slapping Kumar and said that it was in response to verbal abuse and inappropriate behavior. She said, “During the interaction, when I told him that I saw him smoking in public and that does not leave a good impression on students, he verbally abused me,” while speaking to HT.

She also said that he was staring at her and “smirking” even after she expressed discomfort and slapped him only after his verbal abuse. She acknowledged that she shouldn't have done it.

On Friday, the student released an apology video and said that Kumar had “threatened and stared at her in front of the police” and was on substances. “After seeing all this, I felt angry and raised my hand. I regret the incident and I apologise to the teachers’ community. It was not my intention to hurt anyone’s sentiments,” she added.

What Professor Sujit Kumar said

Professor Sujit Kumar, however, made a different claim. He said that ABVP members had barged in during the meeting uninvited. The confrontation, according to him, took place after a student allegedly attacked the elected college president, who was from the NSUI.

“Our college students do not vote for the DUSU but have a college student council. Three posts on that council were unopposed and occupied by ABVP members. A student from the NSUI had won the president post,” he said

He further added, “About a month ago, this same NSUI kid was beaten up by ABVP members because he wanted to contest for the post. We got a video of the same, and I suspended three students affiliated to the ABVP till September 30. Now, on Wednesday, during the event, one of the students who had been suspended beat up the NSUI student in front of me and other committee members.”

Kuar said that he was pressured to resign after ABVP members supported the students involved the scuffle. “After that, a student named Deepika came and slapped me, as captured in the video clip,” he said while speaking to ANI.

India