Vice-dean accused of touching women students during viva exam

Vadodara: Baroda Medical College (BMC) has been rocked after a senior professor was accused of sexually harassing women students during viva voce exams.After a written complaint was received, Dr Amol Bhave, the vice-dean and head of pharmacology department of the Faculty of Medicine, was relieved of his post and divested of all exam-related responsibilities, pending an inquiry. The complaint is being probed by the college's women's grievance redressal committee (WGRC), which functions under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) guidelines. Dean of Baroda Medical College and medical superintendent of SSG Hospital, Dr Ranjan Aiyer, confirmed the development. "The matter is under investigation by the designated committee. To ensure an unbiased probe, he was asked to step down from both the posts he was holding," Aiyer said. Sources said the issue surfaced a fortnight ago when some women students approached Dr Shreya Shah, professor and head of the pharmacology department, who also heads the gender harassment prevention committee. The matter was then brought to the notice of the dean. Initially, an oral complaint was made against Bhave. A formal written complaint was later submitted through a mentor under the mentor-mentee programme mandated by the National Medical Commission (NMC). The students subsequently recorded statements before the committee, after which an inquiry was initiated. Bhave's posts are in the Faculty of Medicine under Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU). Sources in MSU said an official communication was sent to the university authorities, after which he was told to step down before the investigation began. Dr R K Patel from the physiology department was appointed vice-dean of the Faculty of Medicine in the interim. Sources said the complainants alleged that during their viva exams, Bhave touched them inappropriately on the pretext of "applying ointment". "The women students said the physical contact during the viva exam was inappropriate," a source privy to the developments said. Bhave called the allegations "baseless." Speaking to mediapersons on Friday, he said he was "extremely disturbed" to learn that "some students felt frightened of him because of his position". "If students felt that any of my actions were with bad intention, I would have apologized. The students are of my son and daughter's age. I have always treated them like my own children," Bhave said. He added he was associated with the college for decades and had handled examination, evaluation and assessment work for many years, apart from holding posts such as dean of students. The committee's proceedings will continue next week.