A storm is brewing in a dental college of Panjab University over the supposed pestering of an intern by the institute’s director-principal. G.K. Gauba, who heads the Dr HS Judge Institute of Dental Sciences, purportedly asked the girl to pull down the zipper of her jumper to show a slogan on the T-shirt she was wearing underneath.
Though the girl resisted, he forced her to do his bidding. The girl had got the T-shirt as a gift from her US-based cousin. The T-shirt had the slogan ‘I love New York’ printed on it with a heart drawn over the letters.
The girl on Wednesday approached the vice-chancellor (V-C) of the university, R.C. Sobti, for action against Gauba. The principal, however, insisted that she was wearing an “indecent and vulgar” dress.
The incident is threatening to blow up into a big row on the campus. Students and staff alleged that the principal had harassed students in the past also. They went on strike and held a demonstration outside the dental college. A large number of students have also lodged a separate complaint against Gauba. Sobti said he was looking into the matter.
“I have received a complaint from the girl and have constituted a five-member committee to look into the allegation,” he said.
The students were, however, not impressed and alleged that the V-C had patronised Gauba. Sources said the girl felt so humiliated after the incident that she broke into tears and called her parents to the college. They consoled her and met the V-C. Gauba, who is at the institute on an extended deputation from the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, maintained that he wanted girls on the campus to dress up in a “sober” manner. He said the intern was wearing a “revealing” outfit and he only asked her to put on some other cloth over it.
The students, however, countered that and said the girl was properly dressed. “Gauba does not have any legal or moral authority to comment on students’ clothes,” a student said. Students alleged that the principal had a history of “harassing girls”. They also accused him of threatening to mess up their careers by giving less marks in internal assessment. This is not the first time that Gauba has courted controversy. A fourth-year student had earlier complained to the Vice-President — who is also the chancellor of the university — against him. She had charged Gauba with making “advances” at her, but he had denied the allegation.
Sobti refrained from making any comment on the complaint lodged by the victim. He said he had passed it on to the committee for further action. The committee would be headed by the president of the Panjab University Teachers Association and would have four women members, he said. It has been asked to submit its report within 48 hours, i. e., by 5 pm on Thursday. The V- C, however, ruled out any interim action against’ Gauba, including suspension, and assured that he would not interfere with the functioning of the committee.
Asked why he had summoned the girl’s parents and tried to settle the matter, he said they had come to hand him the complaint letter and wanted him to see the T- shirt the girl was wearing at the time of the incident.
Sobti admitted that there was a complaint against Gauba last year. But in an apparent attempt to defend the principal, he said: “That complaint was in some different context. The girl could not clear the test at that time. We had conducted a special examination to redress he grievances,” Sobti said. He said he would also ask the committee to find out why Gauba courted such
controversies frequently.
