The Karachi Varsity announced that it received no “official” complaint from any students alleging sexual harassment by any professors.
Two professors of Karachi University’s Mass Communication department had previously been accused of sexual harassment in a complaint filed by six students.
A university spokesperson claimed that the application received from students bore “fake” signatures.
The spokesperson also said that the complaint was not filed by the victims, but rather by a “male student who is already facing disciplinary action”.
“No evidence of any kind or mobile screenshots were submitted with the application,” he said, adding that the university reserved the right to take action against “counterfeit” complaints.
The spokesperson added that a meeting had been summoned on Friday to take action against the guilty student.
One of the female victims however told a private new channel via telephone call that the professor in question sent her inappropriate texts on WhatsApp.
“I was in my first semester at Karachi University. I was a new student and did not know about the professor’s ‘reputation’. I got a job offer from somewhere and I wanted to discuss the opportunity with the professor. He told me to message him on WhatsApp.
“He then asked me [on WhatsApp] where I lived, how I commuted to the university, about my family, my father and brother. Then he asked me whether I was a friendly person or a serious type of person. Then he suggested we become friends.”
The student also claimed she knew many of her friends who had experienced a similar situation.
“He invited my friend to his office alone. But she went in with four other girls so that he wouldn’t try anything [inappropriate].”
Tihmas Ali Khan, the student who filed the complaint which was dismissed by Karachi University as “fake”, told a private news outlet that “multiple students were harassed” by one of the professors in question.
“I recorded a video detailing the harassment. I did not mean to make it public. I gave the video to someone to edit, but it was somehow leaked. And then I was served with a show cause notice by the university,” he said on a morning show.
