Himachal engineering college principal suspended over sexual harassment charges, ET Education
Advt
Join the community of thousands of industry professionals Subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights & analysis.
Get updates on your preferred social platform Follow us for the latest news, insider access to events and more.
Shimla (HP), The director-cum-principal of Bandla Hydro Engineering College in Himachal Pradesh's Bilapsur district who was arrested on charges of sexual harassment has been placed under suspension, Technical Education Minister Rajesh Dharmani said Tuesday. Himanshu Monga (51) is accused of causing physical and mental abuse to female students and sending inappropriate calls and messages.The principal was suspended after a committee constituted by the technical education department to probe allegations against him submitted its report, Dharmani said.The minister said such incidents should not happen and the government will take strict action in such cases.Several students have accused Monga of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour and also produced messages sent by him to the three-member committee investigating the allegations.The panel began the probe on April 21 after a former student of Sundernagar Engineering College lodged a complaint against Monga on the Samagra e-Samadhaan portal on April 8.The complainant alleged that when she was a student in Sundernagar Engineering College, Monga, who was then a senior faculty member at the college, had behaved inappropriately with the students.The issue escalated further on May 22 the students held a protest demanding his immediate arrest after a video surfaced online that purportedly showed him trying to inappropriately touch a hospitalised female student under the blanket. The alleged incident took place in March 2024, police said.Monga was then arrested and booked under Section 354 A (sexual harassment) of IPC. The accused principal is currently on bail.Following Monga's arrest, several students have come forward against him. They said that if they did not respond to the principal's calls, he would threaten them with slashing their marks. He would also ask them to meet him in his office, and when they would turn up, behave inappropriately.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
How many bullets he fired? Bulandshahr man acquitted of murder after 5 years
Noida: The fast track court of additional sessions judge, Saurabh Dwivedi, acquitted Neeraj Sharma, who spent five years in jail after police falsely accused him of attempted murder and firing at officers in 2018. Evidence revealed that Sharma, a Bulandshahr resident, was actually the victim who had been shot by the police. The court ordered his immediate release on May 31, exposing a case of wrongful imprisonment and police misconduct. The case goes back to July 2, 2018 when a Bisrakh police team was on patrol near Hanuman Temple after a tip-off about suspicious vehicles coming from Sorkha and Hindon Bridge. According to the prosecution, the police team, which was on patrol in their private vehicle, had split into two teams to conduct the checks. During checks, an informer identified a motorcycle carrying alleged 'anti-social elements' with illegal arms. When asked to stop, the riders allegedly fired at police with the intention of killing and tried to flee. The pillion rider, Neeraj, shot twice before the bike skidded, throwing both off. While the rider escaped, Neeraj fired again, prompting police to shoot in self-defense. The prosecution claimed during the trial that the firing was retaliatory. Refuting these claims, Sharma said the encounter was false and instead, he was picked up by police, shot at, and he was booked in a fabricated case. Seeking trial, his counsel, Deepak Vats, said that after firing on Sharma, police made up a story to accuse him of firing on police and possessing illegal arms. Having heard both sides, the court noted serious flaws in the prosecution's case, including a failure to prove that the pistol recovered from the accused was functional. No forensic or ballistic tests were conducted to confirm if the pistol had been fired. Additionally, there were contradictions in witness testimonies as prosecution witness 2 (Rajendra Kumar) claimed the accused fired two bullets, with both empty cartridges recovered from the scene, while witness 1 (Devendra Rathi) stated only one cartridge was found, with the other stuck in the pistol. These inconsistencies raised doubts about the prosecution's version of events. The court also found the use of a private vehicle and the missing general diary entry, ahead of the claimed patrol of July 2, 2018, as doubtful. "Under the given circumstances, the prosecution has failed to establish the fact that the pistol produced here belonged to the accused or that he used it to fire on police, and accordingly, he deserves to be acquitted of the attempted murder charge levelled under section 307 IPC and also section 25/27 of the Arms Act for possessing an illegal weapon," the judgement read. Court ordered Sharma's immediate release and directed him to deposit a personal bond with two sureties of Rs 25,000 each.
The Hindu
3 hours ago
- The Hindu
Delhi HC quashes POCSO case at victim's request, directs accused to perform community service
The Delhi High Court has quashed a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act case following the victim's request. The court asked the accused to perform community service at a government hospital for a month and deposit ₹50,000 towards the Army Battle Casualties Welfare Fund. 2019 case The accused had been booked in an FIR registered in 2019 on IPC sections pertaining to voyeurism, assault on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty, criminal intimidation, and sexual harassment, among others, apart from the relevant sections of the POCSO Act. In her complaint, the minor girl said the accused had pressured her into sharing intimate photographs. After communication between the two ceased, the accused allegedly threatened to share her photos online and demanded ₹6,000 from her in February 2018. The victim said she 'made several payments under duress', and later, a friend of the accused also blackmailed her for money. In his May 27 order, Justice Sanjeev Narula stated that the allegations were 'undoubtedly serious', involving charges of harassment and exploitation of a minor girl, which disclosed 'a pattern emblematic of the darker undercurrents of the social media age, where technology is misused to exert control, induce fear, and compromise dignity'. Ordinarily, such allegations, he added, would not merit quashing of the FIR, but it considered the victim's 'desire to move on from this chapter'. The court then ordered the quashing of the FIR, based on the accused's undertaking that he had not retained the photographs. It directed the accused to perform a month of community service at Lok Nayak Hospital.
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
60-yr-old man accuses family of forgery, misuse of late father's club membership
Ahmedabad: A 60-year-old resident of Shahibaug filed a complaint with Naranpura police on Tuesday, alleging that his family members forged documents and signatures to misuse his late father's club membership. The complainant stated that his father, who died in 2022, held a valid membership of The Sports Club of Gujarat Limited in Naranpura since 1972. After his father's death, the complainant tried to transfer the membership to his name as a legal heir. However, upon visiting the club, he discovered that his father's membership was already active under his name using a form from 1987. He said the form was filled with a forged signature in his name. Though the membership was in his name, the photograph was of another person. Additionally, the spouse's photograph listed in the records did not match that of his wife. The complainant further alleged that a junior membership form was submitted in 2006 using a similar method. In that form, a minor claimed to be the son of the complainant, though he was not. Even the birth certificate submitted listed the complainant's name as the father, which he said was false. "I never signed any of these forms. My name and signature were used without my permission. Documents submitted to the club carried photos and names that do not match my identity or family," the complainant stated in the FIR. He earlier submitted an application requesting police inquiry and now formally lodged a complaint. Based on the details, Naranpura police registered a case of forgery, using forged documents as genuine, and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and began an investigation.
