College chairman kisses student, flees

Rising incidents of sexual abuse against girl students in the city has become a cause of great concern. In the latest incident, a 17-year-old girl was molested by the chairman of Sri Nagarjuna Degree College. The incident took place in the chairman, B. Sudhakar’s, chamber at Balkampet in SR Nagar. He allegedly kissed the victim in the pretext of checking her eyes like a “doctor”.
The SR Nagar police registered a case against the accused on Wednesday and launched a manhunt for Sudhakar who is on the run. The police said that the girl had missed her classes for the last 15 days as she had been unwell. She rejoined classes on Tuesday and at around 3.30 pm, Sudhakar called her to his chamber to enquire the reason for her absence. Inside, Sudhakar kissed and tried to hug the victim who immediately left the room and informed her parents. By the time the parents reached the college, the accused had fled.
“On the pretext of enquiring about my illness and checking my eyes, chairman Sudhakar kissed me. He tried to hug me forcefully. I raised an alarm and came out of the room. I informed my friends and parents,” the victim said. The police registered a complaint under Section 354 (assaulting or using force with the intent to outrage a woman’s modesty) of the Indian Penal Code. Sudhakar, however, is still untraceable. Sub-inspector of police, SR Nagar, R. Govinda Reddy said, “We received the complaint at about 5.30 pm on Tuesday and immediately started the investigation process.
The accused is absconding and we are trying to nab him.” The victim stays with her parents. Her father is a technician in an aircraft maintenance unit at Begumpet. Mohammmed Shoukat, a local, alleged that Sudhakar had a previous criminal record. In 2008, he was involved in a similar case wherein he had molested a girl from PK Guda. He had, however, settled the matter with the help of local goons. The college was closed on Wednesday following the incident and police personnel were deployed as officials feared that locals would attack it. The college management could not be contacted despite repeated efforts.