A Senate functional committee expressed deep concern over increased cases of sexual harassment in higher education institutes of the country.
While discussing the matter during their meeting on Wednesday, some members of the committee made references to the case of Fahmida Laghari, a medical student who had committed suicide due to repeated harassment from one of the teachers.
Zamir Hussain Ghumro, chairman of the committee, said that Fahmida Laghari, a student of Muhammad Medical College in Mirpur Khas, had faced harassment but did not complain about it which led her to take an extreme step.
He asked how the cases of harassment where no complaints were lodged would be sorted out. At the same time, cases of harassment were being discussed at COMSATS University in Islamabad.
The inability of Chairman Higher Education Commission to attend the meeting annoyed the members of the committee who summoned him and told that if he did not attend the next meeting then warrants could be issued against him.
They mentioned 472 cases of harassment reported at universities all over the country out of which 455 have been settled. 53 professors and 19 students were expelled in cases related to harassment.
In COMSATS, 20 cases were reported during 20232025 out of which 14 cases were registered by women. The cases included sexual and workplace harassment.
After investigations, two cases received fines, one individual was expelled from the university, five people got warning, four cases ended with apology, one case withdrew its complaint, and four cases’ suspects were cleared of charges due to lack of evidence.
It was assured that harassment cases are settled confidentially with a policy of zero tolerance. It was also said that actions are taken immediately after registering the complaint and there is a procedure through which students can complain about harassment.
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