Three more sexual harassment complaints filed against Anna University professor

CHENNAI: Three more female students of the Anna University have come forward to lodge sexual harassment complaints against the university professor Gnanavel Babu, who has already been arrested on a sexual harassment complaint from a final-year female student.On Thursday, the first complaint was lodged against Gnanavel Babu at the city police commissioner’s office. He was picked from a hideout in Tirunelveli on Friday and brought to Chennai to be remanded in judicial custody.Meanwhile, officers confirmed that three more students have come forward to lodge complaints against Gnanavel Babu. Two have sent their complaints through emails, while the third complaint was revealed during an all-women police inquiry with female students at the university.The complaint lodged on Thursday stated that Gnanavel Babu had been harassing her for over three years, discussing private matters both in person and over phone. Abiramapuram all-women police conducted a thorough investigation and arrested Gnanavel Babu. The college authorities placed him under suspension after the issue was submitted before the harassment prevention committee in the university.In that complaint, the student had said that the professor had been harassing a few other female students too. She said that the students concerned were afraid and reluctant to file complaints. She requested that the investigation be conducted discreetly keeping their safety in mind.Police tracked and apprehended Gnanavel Babu from his relative's house in Valliyoor near Tirunelveli on Friday night and brought him to Chennai. He was questioned at a police station in connection with the sexual harassment and audio clips revealed by the student. He was also examined at a govt hospital on Saturday evening and produced before a magistrate court in Saidapet, from where he was taken to Puzhal prison for judicial custody for 14 days.The professor's mobile phone is being examined with the help of the cybercrime police. Experts are reviewing if he was involved in more such cases. Teams are trying to retrieve videos, audios and photographs deleted from the professor's mobile phone.All-women police teams from Mylapore have been assigned by Mylapore deputy commissioner Karthik to interact with students if they come forward to lodge formal complaints against the professor.