Acting on the recommendation of the “Women’s Cell”, the Aligarh Muslim University authorities today ordered the suspension of Dr Mohammad Sharif, a Reader in the Department of Sanskrit who had been accused of sexual misconduct by a woman student of MA Hindi (Final) year, in a complaint filed on March 1.

‘‘A case was deemed to be made out against him on the basis of prima facie evidence. The Women’s Cell will meet within a week to look at the case in greater detail and gather more evidence if possible to recommend the final punishment,’’ said Proctor and member, ‘Women's Cell’, Prof Akhlaq Ahmad.

The recommendation, with a punishment that can range from ‘‘termination of service’’ to ‘‘withdrawal of increments’’ at the minimum will be placed for final approval by the Vice Chancellor before the Executive Council of the university.

This comes five days after two other incidents at AMU on March 23, the day around 1,500 girls staged a protest following the death of a hostel resident due to alleged medical apathy. On the same night, another complainant Anjum Rizvi (name changed) who lives outside the campus was allegedly shot at by unknown persons on her way back from the University Health Service where she had gone for treatment. The incident site was close to Victoria Gate, barely half a km from the Vice Chancellor’s office where the enraged women students were protesting the death of the first year student alleging negligence on the part of the hostel authorities.

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