TISS student alleges she was barred from convocation over harassment case

Mumbai: The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) allegedly prohibited a student from attending the convocation ceremony and receiving her degree in Master of Hospital Administration (MHA), on Friday.

She took to social media to air her grievance and said the institute’s decision in all probability had stemmed from a sexual harassment case she had filed against a faculty member of the Health School Systems Studies (SHSS), in September, 2022. At the time, she had escalated the matter to TISS’s Women and Gender Development Cell (WGDC), who had confirmed the professor’s wrongdoing, but let the matter drop there. Thereafter, she had reached out to the Maharashtra State Commission for Women, and was rusticated soon after. Not getting any help from the commission, she finally moved Bombay High Court (HC).

HC, in an interim order, ruled in her favour on December 21, 2022, and ordered the institute to respond to the court within two weeks. Over four months later, the institute is still to respond. The court had also asked the institute to allow her to attend classes.

After Friday’s disappointment, the student told HT: “It all began when I visited the professor in his office to request a change in the location of my internship, due to health concerns. I wanted to work in Delhi, my hometown, instead of Ahmedabad, where I was assigned. The professor mocked my request and made an inappropriate sexual gesture while denying it. He also attempted to grope me. I reported this to the professors, but they advised me not to take any action against him.”

After HC’s ruling, she resumed her classes, cleared all the semesters and completed the internship as well, “even though throughout this ordeal, the professor continued to harass me and my family with false FIRs and even threatened to instigate a sexual harassment case against a supportive professor”.

She alleged that despite the court’s order, the institute had made no effort to resolve the matter, until the week of convocation. “They refused to allow me to attend my convocation scheduled for May 12, stating that I was not eligible. I tried to seek direction from the court’s Vacation Bench but they were unavailable. Finally, I have gathered the courage to share my experience on social media,” she said.

When HT reached out to TISS to respond to the student’s allegation, a spokesperson for the institute said, “The matter is subjudice. We are waiting for directions from HC.”