A final-year student at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) has accused the director of the institute, Bhupendra Kainthola, for creating a hostile work environment for her as she stood against the sexual harassment at the institute. The director described the allegations of the student as wild and imaginary.
The 2016 batch student, in a four-page complaint letter sent to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has said that her harassment at the institute started after she testified against a faculty member who was accused of harassing three female students of the institute. The senior faculty member has been removed however, in August the female herself was expelled from the college for an entire semester on the grounds of professional misconduct and academic indiscipline during the production of the academic project.
Earlier, the complainant had also filed a report of her sexual harassment by a male batch-mate. In her report, she said that she was assaulted by the male batch-mate after he entered her hotel room in the dead of the night when a group of the students was visiting Aurangabad along with a faculty member in April 2018. The male student was suspended from the hostel for three months and was told to attend the therapy sessions.
For professional misconduct, the institute had barred her from sending her projects for the film festival. In her letter, she said that the punishment is unheard in the history of FTTI and this had confirmed her fears that she is being targeted for the raising her voice against the sexual harassment.
Kainthola had denied all her claims and said that they beg credibility and is just an attempt to cover her professional fraud.