Pune: A day after Pune city police arrested a professor of the Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University for allegedly sexually harassing an Iranian girl student under the pretext of helping her get admission for PhD, a magistrate remanded the accused in one-day’s police custody.
Kothrud police, who are also investigating the case, informed the court that they are probing if the accused had sexually abused other girls as he is working with the college for many years.
The accused, Shivaji Borhade (53) worked with the Department of Commerce at Yashwantrao Mohite College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Kothrud, which is under the university. The 31-year-old woman, who is weak in English, used to record all their conversations and later listen to the recordings for better understanding. Thus, she could record the accused’s demands for sexual favours for admission.
Assistant Police Inspector Payal Panchabhai, who is investigating the case, submitted to the court, “The audio recordings clearly show his demand for sexual favour for admission. We will take his voice samples to match with the audio recordings during forensic analysis. The accused has been working with the college for several years and we are investigating if he has sexually abused more girls. His custody is also essential as he knows many Iranian students and may try to influence the complainant.”
The court remanded him in one day’s police custody. The police have charged him for offences under sections 354a (sexual harassment) and 354 (outraging modesty of woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
