Mumbai, Sep 15 (IANS): In a significant decision, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has suspended an Associate Professor accused of sexual harassment of a female medical student of the BYL Nair Hospital, an official said here on Saturday.

The suspension came after a series of internal probes till the matter was transferred to the BMC headquarters and entrusted to the Savitribai Phule Stree Resources Centre.

The BMC said that further action against the accused-suspended Associate Professor shall be taken after the full investigations are complete and the report of the probe committee is received, an official said.

Six months ago, in March, the student who is also an athlete, was summoned by the accused Associate Professor and queried on the sports she played.

A few days later, he again called her to his cabin where he touched her inappropriately on the neck and behind her ears, claiming he was checking for lymph nodes swelling, asked her to remove her apron, put his hand on her shoulder and spoke about her lips colour.

Shaken by this, the MBBS student initially discussed the matter with her friends and classmates, and in April lodged a complaint against the Associate Professor.

A local probe committee at the hospital level said in its report in August that “there is truth” in the student’s complaint and recommended that the concerned Associate Professor should be transferred, and his increments be stopped for a year.

It also recommended that he must not be kept at the Nair Hospital till the victim completed her studies and to bar him from conducting any examinations in which the aggrieved student was appearing.

The panel also termed the hospital management’s stance as ‘unfortunate and insensitive’ to the whole matter and said it should be served with a written warning as they reportedly created hurdles in the implementation of the laws and did not assist the case proceedings.

Subsequently, the accused Associate Professor was removed from teaching duties and assigned administration work till the pendency of the matter.

The BMC said on Saturday that it has taken serious note of the case plus additional complaints of sexual harassment have also been received in the matter, which are now at the civic headquarters, for a fair and transparent probe.

“In view of the prima facie findings of the inquiry and the seriousness of the incident, the (BMC) administration has suspended the accused Associate Professor. Further action shall be taken after the findings of the probe committee at the headquarters,” said the BMC.

A senior professor in one of the BMC's medical colleges said that the welcome development would send “a strong message” to potential sex predators lurking in the civic setup, particularly in the wake of the series of cases of atrocities against women and minor girls reported from different parts of Maharashtra, plus the ongoing furore in a rape-cum-murder case in a Kolkata hospital.