Kaithal, Haryana: On Monday, Holi festivities at the Government College for Girls (GCG) in Cheeka, located in Haryana’s Kaithal district, were cut short for 16 girls as they were escorted away from the revelry by the police to a vehicle waiting outside the college administration office. Acting upon instructions from Station House Officer (SHO) Balbir Singh of Cheeka police station, the officers were taking the girls to the Additional Civil Judge’s office in Gulha, where they had been summoned to give statements against their professor Jitender Kumar.
On 19 March this year, BA Mass Communication students at GCG had complained to the college administration about their 35-year-old professor allegedly sharing an “obscene link” within a WhatsApp group. The college initiated an internal investigation into the matter, following which they filed an official case.
“We want strict action against Kumar and for him to be expelled from college. We want to study,” said a complainant in the GCG case to ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
At around 9 pm on 18 March, 2024, Kumar, purportedly under the influence of alcohol, shared a link to a pornographic video within a WhatsApp group called ‘BAMC 2nd year’, comprising 22 of his students. Subsequently, one of the students is said to have alerted him, prompting Kumar to delete it. However, several students had already taken screenshots by then.
The next day, 16 girls who were part of the WhatsApp group wrote their complaint to the college administration.
The college’s principal, Ram Niwas Yadav, was quick to take action. He formed an internal complaint committee comprising three members, which convened on 20 March. The same day, students and their families staged a protest outside the college premises.
During the committee’s deliberation, the allegations against Kumar were validated, prompting the decision to lodge a police complaint against him. On that afternoon, the police registered a case under section 67A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, pertaining to the dissemination of sexually explicit material in electronic form, leading to his subsequent arrest.
“Since there have been no complaints of any kind of physical harassment against him, and he has only shared a pornographic link, this section has been applied. Under this, there is a provision of imprisonment for up to five years,” Singh said.
On 21 March, Kumar was sent to 14 days’ judicial custody by the Gulha Court. He has since applied for bail for medical reasons, citing injuries to his legs. An opposition to this plea was made by the public prosecutor on the grounds that if he is released, it could put pressure on students.
Over the past few months, similar incidents have been reported from educational institutions across Haryana.
In November last year, ThePrint had reported on the incidents that unfolded at a public school located in the state’s Jind district. Inappropriate conduct such as lecherous stares, unwarranted touching, and asking students intrusive questions about their personal lives — these were the complaints made by nearly 150 students to the district education officer against the school’s principal.
Police suspected that the misconduct had started five years ago, when Kartar Singh Chahal was appointed as the principal of the girls’ school. The chain of events leading to Singh’s apprehension began with an anonymous email sent to the Haryana State Commission for Women on 31 August. An investigation followed, culminating in Singh’s arrest on 5 November. During the preliminary stages of the inquiry, only five girls stepped forward to provide testimony to the police.
More recently, at the beginning of this year, students of Chaudhary Devi Lal University in Sirsa district sent a two-page letter in Hindi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Droupadi Murmu, then Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, the State Women’s Commission, and a local journalist. The letter accused Dean Sushil Kumar of sexually harassing students for months, offering good grades in practical exams in return.
A report by ThePrint on the case quoted the letter sent by students: “He touched our private parts and threatened us that if we complained about him, it wouldn’t come out well for us.”
The GCG case
On 28 July, 2022, some GCG Cheeka students wrote an anonymous letter addressed to Kaithal’s deputy commissioner and the school administration.
“Incidents occurred two months ago when a teacher, Mr. Jitender, was caught with a girl from our college. He jumped from the college roof, causing his spine and both legs to fracture. Everyone knows about this, but no action has been taken against anyone to date,” the letter stated in Hindi.
ThePrint has accessed a copy of this letter.
The letter also accused two other professors of teaching while under the influence of alcohol and “posting indecent photos on Facebook”.
“If our families find out, our education will be disrupted. These people will also reduce our marks and tarnish our reputation. Please do something so that we can study in a better environment,” the letter added.
The SHO explained that a similar anonymous letter was written in January this year, making the same allegations against Kumar, but when action was taken, no complainant came forward.
This time, though, students have come forward openly.
‘Internal politics’
When ThePrint visited GCG in Cheeka Friday, professors of the college had gathered inside Principal Ram Niwas Yadav’s office. Former BJP MLA Kulwant Ram, who helped establish the college in 2018, was also present. When Ram inquired about the matter, Yadav claimed immediate and swift action was taken against Kumar.
However, while acknowledging the distress caused to the female students and objecting to Kumar’s actions, Yadav also addressed the issue of “groupism” among professors, notably within the mass communication department at the college.
“There is a lack of coordination between the professors and students. And a nexus has been formed,” the principal stated.
Speaking to ThePrint, he said that in 2022, when the anonymous letter was received, he was not associated with the college. He added that complaints were registered with the administration last year, but that he was unaware of the subsequent course of action.
Appointed as principal six months ago, Yadav said he is striving to “improve things” on campus. However, internal politics are undermining his efforts. According to him, if the mass communication department is “shut down”, things could improve.
“Now, this matter is in the court, and the administration will take further action according to the law,” Yadav said about the case pertaining to Kumar.
On the issue of groupism, where students are being swayed by teachers to say certain things, he said that he will discuss with staff members strict measures that must be implemented for women’s safety.
According to SHO Singh, Kumar had a “personal rivalry” with another professor, and claimed to have received death threats.
In the principal’s office, another professor spoke of an incident from 2022 when Kumar allegedly “fell” from the roof of a building within the college campus. The anonymous letter sent last year, too, mentioned this incident and claimed that the professor was on the roof of the building with a student who, it asserted, was his “girlfriend”. When questioned by the college administration, Kumar had explained that he fell while “trying to catch a bird”. During this incident, he had suffered serious injuries to his legs.
ThePrint reached Kumar’s lawyer, O.P. Gulati via calls. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
Since this incident, former MLA Ram has received many calls. “People are asking me that you established the college, but why are all these incidents happening? It has become difficult for me to answer,” he said.
Rising voices
The students stand divided, trapped between a rock and a hard place — the lobby against Kumar and another against professor Ravi Shankar from the mass communication department — all striving to get “good marks”. This incident has left some fearful that they will not be allowed to continue their studies.
Speaking to ThePrint, a 20-year-old BA student said, “Look at this. My uncle just shared this news link on WhatsApp. He is asking if professors in my college share obscene links.”
This student’s family is currently unaware of the matter, but after this message, she fears her studies might be stopped. “Why would anyone send their daughter to such a college?” she asked.
“It’s good that Jitender has been arrested. I hope he gets life imprisonment. Maybe now there will be less groupism on campus. At least we’ll be able to study better,” another student added.
The technical loopholes in the IT Act have emerged as a major problem for the police. The police officers have requested screenshots of the link posted on the WhatsApp group for evidence. However, the students only have cropped photos.
They suggested conducting a forensic test on Kumar’s phone, but, according to the police, forensic tests cannot retrieve the message contained within the link sent on WhatsApp because the link does not save on the phone.
At around 4 pm Monday, the students were still sitting within the court premises, hiding their faces behind colorful scarves, eager to go home. Only 9 out of 16 students arrived at the courthouse to record their statements. A prolonged counseling process delayed their return.
“When all our statements match, why aren’t they letting us go home? Why are they doing this counseling?” one complainant whispered to another.
But the police encouraged the girls to keep fighting. “It has been just a few hours, it can take years to get justice in court,” one officer told them. “Don’t back down.”
The nine who recorded their statements find solace in the fact that their families are with them. According to them, if they hadn’t informed their families, they might not have been able to come forward openly.
Once done at the courthouse, they swiftly make their way towards the bus stands to catch the last bus of the evening. At the bus stand, they share that Kumar has never behaved inappropriately with them in any way, even in class. This is the first time he has sent any such message in their group. It’s an action they won’t tolerate, and they are determined to fight against it.
“When girls raise their voices, the whole society tries to suppress them, but we have decided to fight against it,” said a complainant.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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