JOIN USSarita accompanied by her husband D R Vijayakumar, mother-in-law Ratnamma, critic G H Nayak and his wife and Samata Vedike convener Meera Nayak among others sat on a dharna demanding justice.
Speaking to media G H Nayak said the inaction on the part of the administrators at the university makes it clear that they are treading a wrong path. It’s not a good sign. He narrated a line from Kuvempu’s ‘Beralge Koral’ which reads thus in Kannada: “Karmada pangu marige mari..” (The sin will give birth to further sins and boomerang like Dronacharya who in order to protect Arjuna seeks the forefinger of Ekalavya, only to lose his life in the battle later).
Meera Nayak decried the action of the university by revoking the suspension of Shivabasavaiah, and giving him the post of in-charge of printing division of Prasaranga (publication wing of the University of Mysore) recently.
The mere suspension cannot be deemed as punishment as the accused was still able to draw most of his salary.
Despite court verdicts in similar cases, the university has failed to protect the interests of the victim, and has gone a step ahead to shield the accused. Sarita vowed to fight till her last breath, if the police too cooperate granting required permission. The police authorities had granted permission only till 5 pm of the day, besides changing the venue from Crawford Hall, administrative block of the university to DC’s office. The couple succeeded in obtaining permission for Thursday too, late in the evening.
Shivabasavaiah, who was the chairman of zoology department, was guide to Sarita. It was in March that Sarita had lodged a complaint at Jayalakshmipuram police station alleging that her guide was sexually harassing her.
Subsequently, she also attempted suicide, thus aggravating the case, proving costly for Shivabasavaiah too.
He was suspended as zoology head and another professor, Bhagya, replaced him as guide to Sarita. The Women’s Harassment Complaint Committee of the university that vetted into the case had recently submitted a report holding the accused professor guilty. The University Syndicate, instead of acting on the findings of the committee, allegedly prolonged the case by going for another round of inquiry.
Irked Sarita had also petitioned governor H R Bhardwaj, besides State Human Rights Commission (SHRC). Activists of Suvarna Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, Kasturi Karnataka Janapara Vedike, Kannada Nada Sene and Parisara Samrakshana Samiti too joined Sarita in her protest.