Police in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras are looking for the suspended Chief Proctor of a college, who faces serious allegations of sexually abusing students and recording the acts to blackmail them. Rajnish Kumar is Chief Proctor of Seth Phool Chand Bagla PG College, also known as ‘Old Degree College’. The college administration suspended him after the allegations came to the fore. Kumar is now on the run and police are looking for him. Disturbing images of him sexually assaulting students of the college have gone viral on social media, intensifying calls for strict punishment.
An Anonymous Letter
About 10 months back, police received an anonymous letter, accusing Kumar of blackmailing students into sexual acts in return for passing marks and teaching job opportunities. Recently, NDTV, too, received an anonymous letter, in which the writer said she had written to all authorities and sought help, but got no response. “I have not used my real name because then this ruthless professor will kill me. But what I cannot understand is don’t the pictures I enclosed prove his crime?”
A Pendrive, And 59 Obscene Videos
Enclosed with the anonymous complaints is a pen drive with 59 videos of Kumar getting intimate with students. The students’ faces have been concealed to protect their identities. Kumar, it is learnt, would record the acts with a hidden camera and later blackmail the victims into getting intimate again. In her letter to NDTV, the complainant has alleged that Kumar has targeted numerous women and that the others in the college administration are hand-in-glove with him.
The Action So Far
Police have registered a case against Kumar, charging him under sections related to rape, sexual harassment and sexual intercourse by a person in authority. Shortly after the police filed the case, Kumar was suspended as the Chief Proctor. According to a PTI report, the accused said he had been facing such allegations for 18 months and that several probes had not yielded results.
Big Challenge For Cops
According to police, a key challenge in their investigation is the absence of a recorded statement by the complainant. The videos, they said, date back to 2023. The complainant, however, has stressed that she is scared to reveal her identity. She has also said no student allegedly assaulted by Kumar would come to the fore, fearing stigma and further harassment.
