MPhil student of Pt BD Sharma University, who accused HoD of harassment, flunks

Sunit Dhawan
Tribune News Service
Rohtak, July 31

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A 27-year-old M Phil (clinical psychology) student of the Pt BD Sharma University of Health Sciences (UHS) has alleged foul play in the result of the final-year examinations conducted last year. She has accused the authorities of deliberately failing her in the examination because she had filed a complaint of harassment against the head of the department (HoD).

Charges baseless, claims dept head

Rajeev Dogra, head of the clinical psychology department, has refuted the allegations of sexual harassment as false and baseless. On the complainant flunking the examination in spite of her good academic record, she said he had no role in the exams or viva as he had been debarred from the examination process.

“It is difficult to fathom that I flunked the examination. My academic record has always been good. I passed BA (Honours) in psychology with distinction, secured second rank in MA (applied psychology) and fourth rank in first-year M Phil exams, and performed well in the internal assessment,” she told The Tribune on Thursday.

In July 2019, she and seven of her classmates had accused Rajeev Dogra, head of the department, of harassment. Two of the students, however, retracted their statement later. Interestingly, those two girls passed the examination, and the rest flunked.

“Of the six students who flunked, five cleared the examination with the help of grace marks,” the 27-year-old woman said.The written examination was conducted in October last year and the viva the next month. The results were declared in December. The 27-year-old woman claimed that according to the result uploaded on the university’s website, she had cleared the examination.

But when she went to the university to collect her marks sheet on January 3 this year, she learnt that she had flunked. The result was taken down from the university’s website within a week of uploading it. When contacted, the university claimed it was a technical error.

The 27-year-old student approached the sexual harassment committee of the UHS, but no decision has been taken so far. Then she moved the Haryana State Commission for Women. On Wednesday, a team of the women’s commission led by its member Namrata Gaur visited the UHS and recorded the statements Gaur said, “We have sought the examination record from the university. The chairperson of the UHS sexual harassment committee has been asked to cross-examine the complainants through videoconferencing and conclude the inquiry by August 15.”