‘Prof Athawale deserved it’

Priya (name changed), who claims to have been molested by a professor at Wilson College, tells DNA her side of the story

I joined Wilson College as a junior college student in July, 2005. I was looking forward to experiencing the challenges of college life.  It was only in August 2005, that Professor Vilas Athawale approached me when I was waiting for a friend outside the Chemistry laboratory. At the time, I was not aware that he was a faculty member. He tried to make conversation with me, saying he was the dean of the college.

A few days later, I was standing near the college gate when the vice-principal, Professor Parkar, confiscated my phone. Professor Athawale paid the Rs200 fine on my behalf and asked me to collect the phone from him the next day. I met him in a passage that is hardly used by students or staff. We were talking when he began moving closer to me and suddenly grabbed my hand, saying ‘I love you… I love you’. I pushed past him and ran away. I immediately told my parents about the incident. The next day, my father and a family friend met professor Parkar, who defended professor Athawale, saying he was a senior faculty member with impeccable credentials.

After three days, Parkar said that the principal wanted to meet my father. Instead, Professor Bal Nerurkar, from the department of mathematics, and Professor Parkar met my father.

Although Professor Athawale never spoke to me again, I came to know that Professor Nerurkar had been circulating nasty rumours about me. They tampered with my attendance and failed me in mathematics to make me appear an insincere student. I approached the Students’ Council in February 2006.

Professor Athawale and those protecting him deserve severe punishment. I’d never imagined that a 57-year-old professor could behave in such a manner. Although the faculty members deny that I am a student of Wilson College, I am still a Wilsonian. I have been receiving messages from my friends and classmates, encouraging and supporting me. But I completely support the action taken by NSUI to blacken the face of Professor Vilas Athawale. 

As told to Swati Pujari