Odisha CM’s Office seeks report on OUAT sodomy case

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Apr 27:

The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) has directed the vice-chancellor of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) to submit a detailed report on the sodomy case involving an assistant professor of the university.

Frustrated with the delay in the investigation and alleged attempts to sabotage the case against the accused assistant professor, the students had sent a written complaint to CMO, the DGP of police and Twin City Commissioner of Police.

Earlier, the students had accused the departmental investigation committee of trying to delay the verdict in the case. They had also alleged that they are being pressurized and threatened to withdraw the complaint over phone by unknown people.

It may be noted that Vice Chancellor Manoranjan Kar had formed a three-member departmental investigation committee after the incident came to the fore on April 8.  The committee was supposed to submit its report by April 20, but is yet complete the investigation.

The committee has already questioned the students on April 14 and the accused professor on April 15. They are still questioning some lecturers and students, but the victim students claim it is a tactic by the authorities to delay the probe.

The assistant professor of Chemistry department in OUAT’s Basic Science College had been accused of misusing his power to sexually harass seven of his male students.