JNU Prof Johri held in sexual harassment case, gets bail

New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) professor Atul Johri was on Tuesday arrested for allegedly sexually harassing women students of the institute, police said. Students and professors of JNU have been protesting and demanding Johri's arrest after some students accused him of sexual harassment.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South West) Milind Dumbere confirmed the arrest and claimed that after questioning, the police team arrested the professor. ''We have registered seven more FIRs in the case and further investigation is going on," said the DCP. Police sources claimed that Johri was arrested after three hours of questioning at the Vasant Kunj police station.

Delhi Police further claimed that in JNU sexual harassment cases, the statement of all the complainants was recorded under section 164 CrPc before the court. A notice was issued to the accused professor who was subsequently arrested after detailed examination. The accused was produced in Patiala House court. All the facts and circumstances were elaborated before the court including the fact that the accused has been arrested in eight cases.

"The bail plea was opposed by Delhi Police mentioning the apprehension of the complainants regarding intimidation from the accused. He is in various authoritative positions in JNU. After hearing both sides, the court has given a conditional bail to the accused with the conditions that the accused should not hamper the investigation in any way or intimidate the complainants. He also had to furnish the surety of Rs 30,000 each in all eight cases," said police adding that further investigation in the cases is on.

JNU professors, on Monday, had demanded the registration of separate FIRs on all eight sexual harassment complaints against Johri. They had also petitioned Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-West) Milind Dumbere's office in this regard. A protest was staged by the JNU students outside the Vasant Kunj police station on Monday, demanding Johri's arrest. Taking a note of the situation, Delhi Commission for women sent notices of JNU Registrar and Delhi Police to know about the status of the case and also the action taken on those complaints.