Bengaluru, 8 Oct

A 45-year-old professor of a private university was arrested for allegedly sexually harassing a 19-year-old undergraduate student at his residence last month, police said on Wednesday.

The student, in her complaint, has alleged that on 25 September, the professor had invited her to lunch at his residence. He had even spoken to her mother and assured the mother that his wife and children would be there at home. 

According to the complaint, the mother had given the victim permission to visit the professor at his house for lunch. However on reaching home, the victim found that his wife and children were out of station and would be back only a month later. The professor also allegedly started asking the victim personal questions and began pressuring her to break up with her boyfriend. He also promised to assist her with marks and attendance if she complied with his request, the complainant said.

The victim also alleged that accused touched her inappropriately and sexually harassed her, despite her objecting to his advances. He also warned her against disclosing about the incident to anyone and claimed that he was merely "testing her loyalty" towards her boyfriend.

On leaving his house, the girl went to the Tilak Nagar police station and filed a complaint against the accused professor, police said. "Based on a complaint received, we registered a case under Section 75 (sexual harassment) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The accused professor was arrested and later released on station bail," a senior police officer said.