A controversial year for St Stephen’s, one of India’s most prestigious colleges

New Delhi: One of Delhi’s most premier colleges, St Stephen’s is once again in the news for all the wrong reasons.

A student of St Stephen’s College has accused a college professor of sexual harassment and alleged that the principal tried to protect him when the matter was reported to the college authorities.

The victim has also alleged in her complaint that college Principal Valson Thampu had “criminally intimidated her to give a written application to him expressing her consent to close the matter in college itself in order to not cause any delay or problems in completion of her PhD”.

Earlier, in April this year the college had suspended a student who had launched an online magazine, sparking a debate on the freedom of speech.

Read: St Stephen's row: Arvind Kejriwal attends graduation ceremony

The editor and co-founder of ‘St Stephen’s Weekly’ e-zine, Devansh Mehta, a philosophy student was suspended for ‘breach of discipline.’

The row escalated when Devansh was stripped of a good conduct prize. Devansh’s online magazine was banned over an interview of principal Valson Thampu, which according to him was not cleared.

Devansh had dragged St Stephen's to court. In his plea, he had asked the award to be restored.

Though, Devansh received a lot of support from students across the country, Thampu was criticised for acting so strictly against the student.

Read: Student editor suspended by St Stephen's moves court

Thampu had issues with the interview being published without him ‘going through it first and clearing the text’.

However, days of controversy, Mehta was granted relief by the Delhi HC, which issued a stay on his suspension.

He did go on to the stage to receive his scroll from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.