Daijiworld Media Network – Lucknow
Lucknow, May 16: A professor of Lucknow University has been arrested for allegedly engaging in obscene phone conversations with a female student and attempting to lure her by offering to leak an examination question paper.
The accused has been identified as Paramjeet Singh, an assistant professor in the Zoology Department of the university. He was taken into custody after an audio clip allegedly featuring his conversation with a final-year BSc student went viral on social media.
According to reports, the audio clip allegedly contains the professor requesting sexual favours from the student and assuring her of access to the examination paper before the exam. In the purported conversation, he is heard saying, “Darling, I have arranged the exam paper for you. Come back before the exam, and I will give it to you here.”
The student reportedly underwent severe mental distress following the incident and later informed the university administration. Acting on the complaint, Controller of Examinations Vidyanand Tripathi lodged a formal complaint with the police.
Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered at Hasanganj Police Station and the accused professor is currently being questioned by police officials.
However, Singh has denied the allegations and claimed that he is being falsely implicated due to internal politics within the university.
Meanwhile, Vice Chancellor JP Saini has directed the university’s Internal Complaints Committee to conduct an inquiry into the matter and submit its report within 24 hours.
In an official statement, the university administration said any act affecting the dignity and academic atmosphere of the institution would not be tolerated and reiterated its “zero-tolerance” policy towards such incidents.
Following the emergence of the audio clip, activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad staged protests on the university campus demanding the immediate suspension of the accused professor.
Jay Srivastava, president of the ABVP’s Lucknow University unit, said there was no place for such behaviour in a reputed educational institution and demanded strict action, including imprisonment on charges of sexual harassment and compromising the integrity of the examination process.