Teachers union targets St Stephen's principal over vandalism incident

The car of a professor of St Stephen's College was allegedly vandalised by unidentified persons inside the institution's campus in Delhi, police said on Monday. The incident led to criticism of the principal of St Stephen's College by the university teacher's association. Professor John Varghese is the current principal of St Stephen's College.

The vandalism of the car of St Stephen's College professor Nandita Narain happened on the night of June 6 when the vehicle was parked outside her residence within the college campus. Narain, a former president of the Delhi University Teachers' Association, approached the police on Monday.

According to the complaint, the front windscreen of the car was smashed with a heavy object.

Police said legal action would be taken after verifying the facts.

DUTA condemned the incident. In its statement, DUTA said given the deployment of heavy security at the gates of St Stephen's College, the act of vandalism appears to have been perpetrated by elements from within the campus.

"It may be significant that Ms. Narain, along with two other teacher representatives on the governing body, have filed a court case against the college administration for the illegal inclusion of non-academic persons from the church in the interview panel for students' admissions," DUTA statement said.

The case was admitted on June 1 and is coming up for hearing on June 12, it added.

DUTA held the principal of St Stephen's College responsible for this "unprecedented" breach of security on the campus and demanded that the college authorities take immediate measures to ensure the safety, security and well-being of the teaching and non-teaching staff and their families who are residing within the campus.

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