BU VC arrest fallout: Dalit woman victim now hopes for justice

COIMBATORE: Now that Dr A. Ganapathy, Bharathiar University (BU) vice chancellor (VC) has been finally arrested, a Dalit woman is hoping to get justice and subsequently be permitted to pursue her post-doctoral fellowship with the university. 

News of Dr A. Ganapathy, being taken into custody on Saturday brought sense of relief to the 35-year old Ms. Srilakshmi Prabha who was denied a job at the university in 2016, and subsequently prevented from pursuing her post-doctoral fellowship with the BU in 2017. 

Prabha told DC that the VC refrained from sending the required documents that she submitted (for the fellowship) as he (Dr Ganapathy) wanted to take revenge on her for the case she had filed against him in 2016 for denying her the job.

“I applied for the post of assistant professor at the department of Biotechnology of the varsity in 2016. I fulfilled the job criteria. Much to my shock, the appointment order that was reserved for a woman was handed over to a man. I filed a case in the Madras High Court against the VC,” the hapless Dalit woman said. 

The following year the University Grants Commission (UGC) selected her for the post-doctoral fellowship. Despite putting pressure on the university to submit her documents on time, to allow her to undertake her, post-doctoral fellowship, the BU did not do so. 

Subsequently, Srilakshmi knocked the doors of National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) and filed a complaint against the VC for holding back her documents. “An inquiry was conducted and despite the VC and registrar being asked to send my documents, they were not sent.” She told DC that her husband G Kanagraj, who was employed by the university as a driver was fired from work in February 2017 and the administration claimed that he often reported to work in an inebriated condition.

“Now that the cat is out of the bag, I am hoping that the writ petition that I filed in the Madras High Court, which has been pending for the last three months, comes up for hearing soon. I would also request the government to ensure to fix a deadline for disposing cases related to education as it has a direct impact on the career and future of the candidates,” she said.