Irate students today smeared soot on the face of Bauwa Lal Sah, assistant dean of Education Faculty, Tribhuvan University, and handed him over to police after he was allegedly caught while trying to escape after molesting a 16-year-old girl on the university premises in Kirtipur. 

Executive Council of the Tribhuvan University has suspended Sah.Registrar Dilli Prasad Upreti said an emergency meeting of the council held today decided to suspend Sah.

According to police, the girl was in the branch office of Nepal Bank Limited on TU premises to deposit cash for getting transcript certificate of her uncle. After depositing the cash, she had asked Sah, 46, of Bardiya whom she met on the way, the location of the Balkhu-based Office of the Controller of Examinations, where she needed to go.

Quoting the girl, police said Sah gave her the wrong direction, which led to an isolated area. He then followed her secretly and upon catching her made sexual advances and molested her. DSP Anil Khadka at Metropolitan Police Circle, Kirtipur, said the girl had accused Sah of blocking her way, groping her and touching her private parts. Sah immediately tried to escape after she started shouting for help. The assistant dean was caught by some TU students after they heard the girl crying and him running away suspiciously from the scene.

According to Sijar Bhatta, a student, they held the assistant dean and took him to the Office of the Dean. By the time they took him there, around 50 students had already gathered in the area. He said, “Some of the students after hearing the girl’s statement smeared soot on his face.”

Sah was later sent to Kirtipur police station for further investigation and action. DSP Khadka said Sah had been charged with child sexual harassment under Section 25 of the Criminal Code Act. According to the penal code, if a person takes a child to an isolated place in an unusual manner or gropes her or touches her private parts inappropriately or makes sexual advances with an intent to rape, he shall be considered to have committed child sexual harassment. Anyone convicted of the crime is liable to a jail term not exceeding three years and a fine up to Rs 30,000.