Police question VJTI professor

MUMBAI: The Matunga police on Thursday evening questioned the professor of Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) who was recently accused of molesting and sexually harassing a 20-year-old student on May 18.

According to the police, the professor refuted the allegations levelled against him, even as the college is conducting a parallel internal inquiry against him.

The police said that it is keeping a close eye on the development made by the panel set up by the college, while the complainant has already recorded a statement, and said that the incident has left a dent on her. The police had summoned the accused Professor B.G. Bilapatte, head of department of Mathematics, for questioning on Thursday, following which he appeared late in the evening. Upon questioning, the accused person said that he had no intention of molesting the student, and refuted all allegations placed against him.

Balasaheb Kakde, senior police inspector of Matunga police station, said that the college is investigating the matter.

The incident came to light when the student registered a formal complaint against the professor at the Women’s Development Cell (WDC) of the VJTI. Despite her complaint, as no action had been initiated by the cell, the student decided to contact the Yuva Seva — the youth wing of political party Shiv Sena — for help.

Following up on the incident, the college's panel had taken a meeting where it was revealed that the student has written a written complaint to VJTI director Dhiren Patel. However, the directors did not comply with the rules of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and instead of reporting the crime, they sat on the complaint.