Govt college professor held for indecent phone call to student

CHENNAI: The arrested Mahendran of Ambattur is attached to the English department at Loganatha Narayanasamy Government College, an autonomous institution in Ponneri, Tiruvallur district.

Mahendran allegedly often called a final-year student and invited her home to develop a friendly connection. Since his harassment continued though she tried to avoid him, she recorded their conversations twice and reported it to the college authorities. While the college administration formed an internal committee to probe the complaint, the audio clips circulated on social media. In one of the clips, the professor is heard saying it is good for the student to visit him at home since she is in the final year of college.

The victim later approached Ponneri police since the college administration allegedly did not take action against the professor and Ponneri all-women police inspector Magitha Christy registered a case. Since inquiries confirmed the allegations, Mahendran was arrested for woman harassment among other charges on Thursday and remanded in judicial custody.

Police said Mahendran had faced similar internal inquiries by the college administration in the past following such complaints, but no action followed. There is another Visaka committee probe pending against him.

Meanwhile, college principal Sekar told the media that the internal committee report on the girl’s complaint has been forwarded to the department concerned.