The alleged suicide of a Jammu University professor has snowballed into a major issue in the Union Territory as some organizations of "weaker sections" jumped into the matter as the deceased teacher of Psychology was a Dalit.
After Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) organized a protest against the suicide of the professor, all India Confederation of SC/ST/OBC Organisations on Sunday rejected Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by Jammu and Kashmir Police to investigate the case.
"We will not accept less than a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) because it is not a normal suicide case", R K Kalsotra chairman of Confederation said. He alleged that the deceased was forced towards suicide.
"We have already written a letter to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and demanded a CBI probe into the incident", he said.
"The deceased professor was going to become Head of the Department (HoD) of the Psychology Department. We have apprehension that the entire case was manipulated and the deceased was falsely implicated so the truth can only be revealed through CBI probe", he said.
University authorities are trying to temper the record: BSP
While demanding a CBI probe into the case, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Sunday aired apprehension that the Jammu University authorities would temper the record to distort evidence.
BSP leader advocate Pawan Kundal demanded that before the case will be handed over to CBI, police must seize all records including minutes of the meetings of the Committee Against Sexual Harassment (CASH). Kundal demanded that the incumbent HoD of the Psychology Department should be suspended and her entry into the university should be banned till the completion of the inquiry.
University teachers and students demand CBI probe
Not only political and social organizations Jammu University Teachers Association (JUTA) and various student groups have also demanded a CBI probe.
"Although an SIT has been constituted by the Police, we will continue to raise our demand for a CBI probe", Prof Pankaj Shrivastav president of JUTA told International Bussiness Times. He said that truth will be revealed only through the CBI probe.
Earlier JUTA has demanded that proceedings of the CASH committee should be made public.
JU professor died by suicide on September 8 after being suspended on sexual harassment allegation.
As reported earlier, an Associate Professor of Jammu University died by hanging himself from a ceiling fan on the campus after he was suspended on the allegation of sexual harassment. Identified as Chandra Shekhar, a native of Meerut of Uttar Pradesh, the deceased was an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology, Jammu University.
The 45-year-old Associate Professor, Chandra Shekhar was a resident of Meerut and was working at Jammu University for many years. Chandra Shekhar lived with his wife and daughter in the Old University Campus located on Canal Road.
On September 1, some girl students of the Department had complained of sexual harassment against Chandra Shekhar. Due to this complaint, the internal committee of the University started a departmental inquiry against Chandra Shekhar and he was placed under suspension till the completion of the inquiry.
The wife of the deceased professor said the allegations against his husband were false and he was implicated.
