ESIC Medical College Chennai student alleges harassment by HoD Forensic Medicine after raising mess fund irregularities

Chennai: A medical student of ESIC Medical College and Hospital, KK Nagar, Chennai, has accused the head of the forensic medicine department of serious threats, verbal abuse, physical intimidation and academic harassment after he raised concerns over non-transparency and alleged irregularities in hostel mess funds and filed complaints and RTI applications in connection.

Through several posts on the popular social media platform 'X', the student claimed that after exposing the issue, he was called to the chamber of the Head of the Forensic Medicine Department, threatened to withdraw complaints, and later forcibly removed from an examination hall, preventing him from completing his exam.

According to documents and emails shared by the student online, he had raised questions about the handling of student mess funds, alleging a lack of transparency. He sought clarification and verification of records and subsequently filed an RTI application.

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The student alleged that the audit showed Rs 9.53 lakh collected and Rs 8.62 lakh spent, with a surplus of Rs 90,851. He pointed out that an additional Rs 62,000 shown as an August gas bill was paid from September funds, taking the actual surplus to around Rs 1.52 lakh. He said that despite students demanding a detailed audit from January to October 2025, only the audit for September 2025 was disclosed.

Following the RTI application, the student filed a complaint to the ESIC Medical College, Chennai and wrote a letter to the dean of the medical college.

"We all students had asked for the audit of mess from 1 January 2025 to 31 October 2025. Because as mess was in profit of Rs 1,52,851 then we wanted to know how much profit/loss mess is having since 1 January 2025 till date but detailed audit was not shown & it was denied by the mess secretary that mess audit will not be disclosed to anyone. Also the breakdown of the ‘provision’ amount of Rs 4,10,500 is not done & it’s details are not being done public by the mess authority. It seems like the amount of which mess authority is not able to give audit, they are putting it in ‘provision’," he said in the letter to the dean.

Accordingly, the college administration acknowledged receipt of the student’s complaints. In an official communication in December 2025, the college stated that a committee had been constituted to examine allegations regarding non-transparency in mess funds.

The student welcomed the formation of the committee; however, he started receiving threats and harassment from the accused professor and two other senior professors for allegedly raising his voice against the alleged corruption.

The student alleged that on 5 January 2026, he received a call from Dr ***, HOD, Forensic Medicine, asking him to come to his office. When he went to the chamber at around 4 pm, the student claims that he was locked inside the chamber and was asked to switch off his phone and place it on the table. There were two other professors present in the room.

The student alleged that during this meeting, he was threatened for filing complaints and RTIs and was told to withdraw all complaints in writing. He also claimed to have been abused with derogatory language and was threatened. He further claimed he was warned not to reveal that the meeting took place.

After informing the Personal Secretary of the Dean about the incident, the student alleged that he received continuous calls from the HOD and his Personal Assistant. Following repeated calls, the student took to social media, exposing the alleged corruption and the alleged harassment by the faculty.

Even though he informed the dean about the harassment, he stated that no action was taken. He also submitted the call logs and WhatsApp messages as evidence in the letter.

According to the student, the matter turned serious for him on 8 January 2026, during an Obstetrics model examination from 1 pm to 4 pm, when the accused HOD allegedly dragged him out of the examination hall, following which he was unable to complete his exam paper.

In a written complaint to the HOD of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the student stated that at around 3 pm, while writing the exam, the accused HOD entered the examination hall and grabbed the student by the neck and took him out of the examination hall. The professor accused him of tweeting against him and forced him to submit his answer sheet one hour before the exam ended, he stated in the letter.

The student has forwarded the complaints and emails to the Dean of ESIC Medical College and ESIC Headquarters. In the letter, he attached the call logs, WhatsApp messages, written statements and copies of earlier emails and RTI references.