St Xavier’s College guest panellist accused of sexual harassment at Antas

More than 10 students have levelled allegations of sexual harassment against an individual invited to speak at the national seminar of Antas an annual festival organised by the cityrsquos St Xavierrsquos Collegersquos Hindi department The matter came to light when several students comprising the festival workforce announced that they would boycott the event if their grievances were not addressed The alleged incident took place on November 24An apology acknowledging that a guest misbehaved with students was posted on November 25 on the official Antas Instagram account While alleged victims declined to speak to midday citing trauma and fear of official reprimand three of their friends shared the details with this newspaper on the condition of anonymityThe festivalrsquos National Seminar was held on November 2425 and the guest was invited as a speaker for a session He was staying on the college campus in a guest accommodation After his arrival on the evening of November 23 he allegedly ordered the volunteers of the guest management department to get him paan masalaScreenshot of the apology post on the official Instagram account of Antas PICINSTAGRAMantasfestThe students informed him that the consumption of such substances was not allowed on the college campus but when he insisted a male student complied When the male volunteer went to his room to deliver it he allegedly found the guest stark naked upon opening the door The next morning the guest continued to misbehave according to students ldquoThe guest was taking a stroll around the campus and he began surreptitiously taking pictures of female students without their consent He also took their phone numbers down on a piece of paperrdquo a student saidMoreover it was alleged that he groped a female student A few students complained to a college priest who then approached the guest speaker and asked for his phone The cleric then allegedly found nonconsensual pictures of female students on the device and deleted them The students began reporting his behaviour to the faculty as well as the sexual harassment cell by afternoon on November 24 yet action was not taken immediately due to the principalrsquos absence from the campusThe St Xavierrsquos College campus in Fort South Mumbai Picmidday archivesldquoEventually students ceased volunteering for the seminar and announced that they would boycott the festival if no action was taken against this speaker By 8 pm students were ordered to escort him off the campus ensuring that he would not arrive for the seminar the next dayrdquo a source said According to students the speaker himself wasnt informed of the offences he had been accused ofOn November 26 aftermidday sent St Xavierrsquos College principal Dr Karuna Gokarn an email with detailed questions she told a correspondent in a separate conversation over the phone ldquoAll the necessary safety measures were taken into account However the guest speaker in question was observed misbehaving on campus and was asked to leave the same day The victims of the incident have been asked to raise a complaint with the collegersquos Internal Complaints Committeerdquo However at the time of going to press the principal had not responded to queries regarding the emailAlleged coverupAccording to members of the organising committee Dr Gokarn later addressed the students and informed them not to mention anything on social media She also mentioned that the college would not be taking legal action against the speaker but students were free to do so if they wished Moreover the public relations team of the college fest took to Instagram to issue a statementThe Antas statement said in both English and Hindi ldquoOn 24th November 2025 during our Hindi Department National Seminar an invited guest behaved in a manner that was completely unacceptable and deeply disrespectful towards our volunteers and team members especially our female volunteersrdquoIt added ldquoWe are actively addressing the matter with the concerned authorities to ensure that such behaviour will not be repeated and appropriate action has been taken against the individual The authorities ensure the safety of students inside St Xavierrsquos College campus We stand by our students alwaysrdquo Multiple student accounts also state that despite being aware of the alleged behaviour of the speaker a faculty member responsible for Antas was seen treating him cordially and respectfully even lunching with himAn organising team head on the condition of anonymity stated that the principal advised the workforce and the faculty to keep the incident under wraps to safeguard the collegersquos reputation ldquoWe believe in Atithi devo bhava Guest is God This should be kept within the Xavierrsquos familyrdquo the principal allegedly stated to students and faculty The principal did not respond to our emailsStudents claimed that Dr Gokarn said ldquoPlease try to understand that this is my first time as a principal and it is a learning experience for me toordquo This is reportedly among the first cases where both the collegersquos sexual harassment cell and principal were apprised of an incident Sources stated that the general mood among students is one of outrage and several have not been coming to college since November 24ldquoThe barest of bare minimum was done and itrsquos still not good enoughrdquo one of them said A student whose picture was allegedly shot nonconsensually said ldquoI saw him take a selfie with me in the frame and quickly walk away Later the priest made him delete it and I felt relieved because God knows what he intended to do with the photordquoShe also stated that contrary to a lot of students she was satisfied with the steps taken by the principal ldquoShe was clearly unhappy with what had happened and was very supportiverdquo she saidA volunteer said ldquoWe were asked to move away from the college grounds because the speaker was going around touching studentsrdquoThe student added ldquoThe college strictly enforces hundreds of rules However no strict action was taken against the perpetrator for at least six hours and he was allowed to roam the campus The principalrsquos initial response was lsquoSince I was not on campus when this happened I am not fully accountable for itrsquo But what about after thatrdquo