IIM Indore student faces sexual harassment probe; steps down from placement cell

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore has initiated a formal investigation into a sexual harassment complaint filed by a female student against a male student-member of the business school’s placement committee.

Institute Director Himanshu Rai said on Thursday that IIM Indore’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) launched its investigation immediately after receiving the complaint in which the female student alleged sexual harassment incident that occurred during an off-campus event.

“Immediately after receiving the complaint, ICC asked the student concerned to step down from the placement committee. He is no longer on the committee,” Rai said.

Earlier, the local unit of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) sent a memorandum to the IIM director alleging a student on the placement committee sexually harassed “some female students” during an off-campus event.

The memorandum demanded that the IIM Indore management ensure a fair, transparent, and timely investigation into the allegation, while providing mental, legal, and administrative support to the victims.

The ABVP memorandum also demanded that the current placement committee be dissolved and a new one be formed to protect the investigation from “pressure and influence”. Director Rai said the female student’s allegation of sexual harassment was being investigated in accordance with the Vishaka guidelines set by the Supreme Court.

These guidelines were established to provide a framework for preventing and investigating sexual harassment complaints at workplaces. Under the framework, ICCs have been set up at workplaces to hear and resolve complaints of sexual harassment of women staffers.

These committees have been formed under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. Workplaces with 10 or more employees are required to form such a committee.