St Stephens molestation: DU says girls new demands highly unreasonable

New Delhi : Delhi University said on Thursday that the new demands raised by St Stephen’s research scholar who was allegedly molested by college professor are highly unreasonable. Her demands included the appointment of a female supervisor and getting her compounds and computational data back. 

“Following a meeting of the Department Research Committee (DRC), we had approved a new supervisor for her. However, while the modalities were being finalised she sent a new application last evening demanding that the new supervisor should be a female. 

“The demands raised by her in the application are “highly unreasonable”. She should have raised her demands during the meeting of DRC and insisted on appointment of a female supervisor then,” said Gurmeet Singh, HOD, DU’s Chemistry department. 

Following a directive from the HRD ministry, the varsity had yesterday approved a new research supervisor maintaining that the process can move ahead only after St Stephen’s facilitates an approval from the former supervisor. 

The girl had approached the department to submit a set of demands that she be assigned a female supervisor and allowed to resume her research work “from its present status”. 

“I want to make it clear that I don’t want to start my research work afresh. I should be given the compounds made by me during research and the computational data collated so far. 

“I also want the software key which I had been using while working with my supervisor,” she had said in her application. 

Reacting to the demands, Gurmeet Singh said, “it is not university’s prerogative to get her data back from the former supervisor, we have no administrative control over him. It is for St Stephen’s to facilitate the same”. 

“We are doing our best to help out the girl but having agreed to everything, she needs to make up her mind and let the matter proceed in towards the best possible solution,” he added.