Hathras college principal held for ignoring complaints, encouraging accused

Following the arrest of a senior professor accused of sexually harassing and blackmailing about a dozen female students at PC Bagla Degree College in Hathras in March, principal Mahaveer Singh Chonkar has also been held by the local police for failing to address the complaints by victims, authorities said on Wednesday.

- HT Correspondent

AGRA:

Not only the complaints against the accused professor were sidelined, he was even made the chief proctor of college, they said.

Hathras superintendent of police (SP) Chiranjeev Nath Sinha said that the action was taken jointly by the Hathras Gate police and Special Operation Group (SOG) in connection with the case already registered against Prof Rajneesh Kumar, who was arrested in March.

"It emerged during investigation that the principal was helping the professor in question by sitting on the complaints from victims and even criminally intimidating them about possible damage to their future. The accused professor, who is the head of geography department, continues to be in jail after being arrested from Prayagraj on March 19, 2025," Sinha said.