JNU confirms Kanhaiya Kumar was fined for misbehaving with female student

QUICK PILL

• Kanhaiya Kumar was fined by the JNU administration last year for allegedly \"misbehaving\" with a girl student and \"threatening\" her.

• When the incident took place, Kanhaiya was not the president of the students\' union, reads AISF statement.

Amid a raging row at JNU, it has now emerged that its students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who is facing sedition charges, was fined by the varsity administration last year for allegedly "misbehaving" with a female student and "threatening" her.

The incident occurred on 10 June 2015, when the girl asked Kanhaiya - who had not been made students' union president yet - to refrain from urinating in public. The girl, who now teaches at Delhi University, alleged that Kanhaiya "misbehaved" with her when she objected, called her a "psychopath" and threatened her with dire consequences.

She lodged a complaint with the JNU administration, following which a proctorial inquiry was carried out that found Kanhaiya guilty. An order issued on 16 October, 2015 by the then Chief Proctor, Krishna Kumar reads:

"The university... has found Kanhaiya Kumar guilty of misbehaving with an ex-student (female) and threatening her. This act is serious in nature and unbecoming of a student of JNU and calls for a strict disciplinary action against him (Kanhaiya)... keeping his career prospects in mind, the Vice Chancellor has taken a lenient view in the matter."

"Kanhaiya is fined Rs 3,000 and also warned to be careful and not get involved in any such incidents in future. Otherwise, strict disciplinary action will be taken against him.".

The girl has also posted an unsigned order on social media. She has accused Kanhaiya of being a "false revolutionary making claims about upholding the dignity of women." The university administration confirmed in a statement that the letter was authentic and action was taken against the student leader.

Facebook

In an open letter, she wrote:

"I am dejected and pained to see how my JNU community has ganged up to create false revolutionary. I want to ask, do you really understand the D for Dignity of a female, Mr Kanhaiya? Unzipping your private part in public and urinating on road are these your revolutionary tools to uphold a female's dignity? I am shocked to see how a misogynist like Kanhaiya is being hailed as revolutionary."

"Talk about public urination and threatening are being spread to malign Kanhaiya's image. He had a verbal argument with the girl following which she had registered a complaint. We do respect the girl's right to criticise Kanhaiya but we want to reiterate that he has always stood for gender justice. Also, when the incident took place, he was not the president of the students' union."