Islamia University Professor Expelled Over Harassment Charges
Last year, employees of Gomal University were dismissed from service on charges of sexual harassment
Professor Dr Amirullah, the chairman of the political science department at Islamia College University (ICU) has been dismissed from the position by the provincial ombudsperson over harassment charges.
In November 2019, an ICU student accused Dr Amirullah of harassment after which a joint investigation committee was formed.
According to the provincial committee, the university administration along with the professor was mutually hiding the facts about harassment.
The students held several protests against rising harassment cases at the university.
They claimed that the educators at the institution called female students to their offices at odd hours and demanded investigation into the matter.
The protesting students accused that the committee was just confined to paperwork and was doing nothing to help them.
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Talking to News360, the provincial Ombudsperson Rukhshanda Naz, after inquiry proceeded, suggested removing Dr Amirullah from service under section 4(II)(c) of Protection Against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2010 in the best interest of the educational institution.
The order said, “This is hard to take such action against a teacher, who is considered to be a custodian of an educational institution but the current atmosphere of the educational institution is not conducive for victims of sexual harassment”.
The report said the complainant was not only harassed, but she also faced character assassination on social media.
Replying to a question about where the highest number of cases are reported, Naz said that at workplaces where the number of females is higher in ratio than males, the likelihood that women would face harassment was higher.
Breaking down the workplaces, KP ombudsperson added that the first category includes educational institutions followed by the health sector including nurses, female paramedics, doctors, and polio workers. The third category includes office-going women.
Rukhshanda informed that of every three harassment cases reported, one case is usually withdrawn because the institutions pressurized the complainants instead of holding the suspects accountable.
Many females find it difficult to pursue the complaint as it might affect their careers, she added.
Similar to the ICU case, four employees of Gomal University in Dera Ismail Khan in KP were dismissed from service last year after the university management found them guilty of sexual harassment.
