Kasaragod: Central University of Kerala Vice Chancellor in charge Prof K C Baiju suffered a loss of face as he was forced to suspend Assistant Professor Efthikar Ahamed B again, six days after he reinstated the English teacher accused of sexually harassing female students.
The latest suspension comes amid student protests, picketing, and poster war on the campus since Friday, February 23, when Efthikar Ahamed was reinstated.
The university's order allowing him to resume academic activities in the Department of English and Comparative Literature also violated the Kerala High Court order prohibiting him from entering Hosdurg taluk for two months or the completion of the inquiry against him. The High Court issued the order as a condition for his anticipatory bail on January 31.
To make amends, Vice Chancellor in charge Prof Baiju on Thursday, February 29, issued a new order that said Assistant Professor Efthikar Ahamed is being placed under suspension with immediate effect because a criminal case against him is under investigation.
Bekal Police had booked him for allegedly using criminal force to outrage the modesty of the female student (Section 354 of IPC), making unwelcome physical contact and advances and explicit sexual overtures (Section 354A(1)(i) of IPC), and using word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of the student (Section 509 of IPC).
Prof Baiju, however, blamed Efthikar Ahamed for his error of judgment in revoking the suspension in violation of the High Court order. In the order, he said Efthikar Ahamed failed to inform the university about the court order on time. He said the university came to know of the bail conditions set on January 31 when Bekal police sent the court order on February 29.
To be sure, it is the responsibility of the university's standing counsel to intimate the varsity of court decisions and judgments, not of the police or petitioner.
Efthikar Ahamed was initially suspended on November 28 after first-year PG English students accused him of conducting lewd lectures under the garb of poetry class and molesting a female student who fainted in class on November 13.
His suspension was revoked based on the recommendations of the university's Internal Complaints Committee (ICC).
After he was suspended again on February 29, Efthikar Ahamed threatened to end his life on social media, and laid the responsibility on SFI, which is leading a protest against him on the campus, and Vice Chancellor in charge Prof Baiju, among others.
