In a bizarre development in one of Pakistan's most prestigious private universities, a professor has allegedly "disappeared" after students attempted to register complaints of sexual harassment with the university administration.
On social media, students at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) shared their experience of taking a particular anthropology course offered on campus. According to these posts, the instructor consistently behaved inappropriately in class, to the extent that multiple students felt sexually harassed in a classroom setting.
Many examples have been given in these posts regarding the nature of comments the instructor, an Iraqi-American, made towards students as a general category and to particular students, both male and female. The posts also suggest that the instructor consistently made comments that were racist and xenophobic in nature. Apparently, the instructor ceased to teach anything related to the syllabus material advertised for his course well into the first half of the semester.
When a group of students complained to the department in charge, they were told they should try giving the instructor "a second chance".
Students then registered a formal complaint of sexual harassment against the instructor, submitting documentary evidence to prove their allegations against the accused. However, the instructor then apparently "left" the university mid-way during the semester, and the university administration told students that it could no longer pursue any action against him. It claims to have no knowledge of his current whereabouts.
The social media users sharing their experience describe it as a "traumatic" experience, criticizing the university department responsible for hiring such a person who was so obviously unfit to be around students. Allegedly, the department also demands that the students produce all coursework from scratch in a span of 19 days.
In 2014, when a female LUMS student accused law instructor Abid Husain Imam of sexual harassment, other faculty members rushed to defend the accused, with the university's inquiry committee also exonerating Imam of the charge. Media scrutiny and the student's drive however, led the case to an appeal with the local ombudsman, who declared Imam guilty of sexually harassing the student. The court's decision forced LUMS to then fire Imam from his position.