4 lab technicians of Rangaraya Medical College arrested, suspended after 50 students allege sexual harassment

Amaravati: Four employees, including one Lab attendant and three lab technicians, of Rangaraya Medical College in Kakinada have been arrested following serious allegations of sexual harassment by female students.

The arrests were made after 50 female students pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Medical Laboratory Technology (B.Sc. MLT) and Diploma courses complained that they were being sexually harassed by the accused staff members working in the biochemistry lab.

In addition to this, the college administration has also suspended these four employees from their positions after their Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) found them guilty of the alleged misconduct. They have been directed not to leave the headquarters without obtaining the prior permission of the competent authority, which is the Principal of RMC, Kakinada.

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The matter came to light after a girl student sent an email to the college principal on July 9, reporting sexual harassment. Soon after, more students came forward with similar complaints. Accordingly, the college administration forwarded the complaint to the ICC. Following this, the committee conducted an investigation and submitted a report on July 11.

The complaints detail repeated misconduct by these staffers over an extended period, including threats, inappropriate behaviour and being under the influence of alcohol while on duty.

Most of the students accused one lab attendant of sending them vulgar messages and inappropriate comments via WhatsApp. The names of three lab technicians also came up during the inquiry.

Based on the ICC report, Principal of Rangaraya Medical College, A Vishnu Vardhan, suspended the accused under Rule 8(1) of the APCS (CCA) Rules, 1991, pending disciplinary proceedings.

"These four employees have been restricted to Kakinada headquarters and barred from leaving without official permission, and they will receive subsistence allowance as per rules during suspension," a source in the medical college told PTI.

The complainant then approached the police who arrested the accused under Sections 75(1)(i)(iv), 79 read with 3(5) BNS, and Section 7 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act and section 9 read with 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu sought a report from the Health department and directed officials to take stringent action against all the accused.

IANS has reported that Kakinada District Collector Sagili Shan Mohan and Superintendent of Police G. Bindu Madhav addressed a press conference on Friday to announce details of the case after Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu took serious note of the incident. They said a criminal case was registered against the accused after three complaints were lodged at two police stations in the town since Friday morning.

Meanwhile, Home Minister V. Sunitha expressed her ire over the alleged sexual harassment at the medical college. She spoke to the district Collector and SP over the phone and enquired about the incident. The Home Minister directed that stringent action be taken against the accused. She said such incidents would not be tolerated.

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