Three professors of Muslim Educational Association of Southern India (MEASI) Academy of Architecture, part of The New College, Chennai, have been accused of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour by students and alumni of the college.
The issue had come to light after several screenshots of Instagram stories was shared by a former faculty of the college went viral on social media. Many of the female students had shared their experience with the said faculty on Instagram a few days ago.
Most of the screenshots pertained to the abuses and harassment made by Prof. Anwar Shariff who is also a Design Chair of the college.
Three professors of Muslim Educational Association of Southern India (MEASI) Academy of Architecture, part of The New College, Chennai, have been accused of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour by students and alumni of the college.
The issue had come to light after several screenshots of Instagram stories was shared by a former faculty of the college went viral on social media. Many of the female students had shared their experience with the said faculty on Instagram a few days ago.
Most of the screenshots pertained to the abuses and harassment made by Prof. Anwar Shariff who is also a Design Chair of the college.
One of the alumni of the college had narrated an incident when Anwar Shariff had confiscated her phone and called her to his cabin where he grabbed her backside.
In another post, an alumnus of the college had said that Anwar was known for ‘touching’ lady staff members too.
A lady staff of the college who wished to stay anonymous had said that she had been a victim of Anwar’s predatory behaviour. He also allegedly filmed a lady staff without her consent or knowledge.
Another male alumnus of the college belonging to 2011-16 batch had said that he himself had seen Anwar touching the back of a female design staff.
It is noteworthy to mention that Anwar who is more than 70 years old is related to Malayalam film star Dulquer Salman. His grand-daughter is Dulquer’s wife who also studied architecture in the same college. One of the alumni of the college mentioned that even friends of Dulquer’s wife were harassed by Anwar in college.
Another faculty who has been accused of sexual harassment is Thooyavan Krishnan. One of the students had shared that Thooyavan used to touch at inappropriate places whenever he got the chance.
Solomon, who is reportedly a visiting faculty at the college and runs a private coaching institute for NATA exam (National Aptitude Test in Architecture), had allegedly shown pornographic content to students.
All these allegations were made by students and alumni of the college on Instagram. These screenshots which were shared in an Instagram page named ‘Measi Abuse’ have now been taken down.
One of the students who had recently passed out of the college told The Commune that despite several complaints, the management had turned a blind eye as Anwar is influential. She said that they deliberately fail people who voice out. The student told that when 7 people complained about Anwar in 2009, all of them were made to repeat a year of which two were made to repeat another year.
She said that Anwar quite often calls girl students to his cabin where he behaves with them inappropriately.
A petition has been sent through the official alumni association (AAMAA) seeking action against the accused professors two weeks ago. However, it was told that the management has only orally mentioned that they will take action.
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