Teachers stage protest, seek action against ‘criminals’
Shillong, Apr 25: An assistant professor of North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) was allegedly assaulted and threatened by the president of NEHU Students’ Union and five other students on Thursday evening.
NEHUSU president Sandy Sohtun and his accomplices allegedly locked the assistant professor of Hindi, Dr Alok Singh, inside his chamber and threatened to kill him, according to an FIR lodged by Dr Singh.
“I am deeply saddened to inform you that on April 24, at around 4.45pm, the president of NEHUSU, along with five accomplices, forcibly locked me inside my chamber in the department. During this incident, they physically assaulted me and threatened to kill me by holding a scissor to my neck,” stated the FIR lodged at Mawkynroh police outpost.
He said he had suffered injuries in the head, legs and hands due to the assault.
Stating that he’s extremely distressed and traumatised by the event, Dr Singh said, “I now feel unsafe and fearful within the campus premises.”
Further narrating the incident to reporters on Friday, Dr Alok Singh said, “The NEHUSU president and five other students came to my chamber and closed the door. I asked, what happened? He said, ‘Sit down and don’t speak while two others were holding my hands and were continuously beating me…”
“…They said I was doing politics. But I had not done anything wrong… I pray for justice and for my safety and security,” he added.
Condemning the incident, NEHU teaching fraternity on Friday staged a protest in front of the vice-chancellor’s office, demanding concrete steps to ensure safety and security of faculty members.
“We, the faculty members of NEHU, stand with Dr Alok Singh ji and want to express our solidarity with him and in no way we will be afraid of such criminals, who want to defame the university… We have witnessed their activities during the past few months… they claim to be NEHUSU office bearers,” the teachers said in a statement.
They also termed the act as “heinous” and an “attempt to murder” on the faculty member and demanded the miscreants be put behind the bars.
