Central University professor Efthikar Ahamed was arrested for sexually assaulting a woman at the water park

Kasaragod: Central University of Kerala assistant professor Efthikar Ahamed B was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman at Vismaya amusement park in Parassinikadavu near Kannur.

Taliparamba Station House Office – Inspector Benny Lalu ML said Efthikar Ahamed has been remanded in judicial custody and is now lodged in Kannur District Jail.

According to the FIR, Efthikar Ahamed, who teaches English at the Central University of Kerala, groped a 22-year-old woman from Malappuram in the wave pool of the amusement park on Monday afternoon. “Both the woman and Efthikar Ahamed were at the park with their respective families. They didn’t know each other,” the officer said.

At around 2:30 p.m., Taliparamba police received a call from the park. “We went there, recorded the woman’s statement and arrested Efthikar Ahamed,” Inspector Lalu said.

He was charged with Section 354 (assault or use of criminal force to injure the modesty of a woman) and Section 354 A (1) (i) (sexual harassment by physical contact and advances) of the Indian Penal Code.

If convicted, he faces a simple prison sentence of one year to five years or a rigorous prison sentence of up to three years. On Monday around 1:45 p.m., Efthikar Ahamed posted videos and photos on Facebook from his trip to the amusement park with the caption: “Family time, best time.”

Freshmen in the university’s Department of English and Comparative Literature are already facing sexual harassment charges for teaching lewd courses under the guise of poetry classes.

The Bekal police had booked him under Section 354 of the IPC for molesting a student who fainted in class while writing an exam on November 13.

The university suspended him and revoked the suspension after nearly three months, but suspended him again soon after it came to know that the Supreme Court had banned him from entering the Hosdurg taluk for two months till March as a condition of his release on bail.

But the responsible vice-chancellor, Prof. Baiju KC, revoked the suspension again with the condition that he was not allowed to teach the complaining first-year students. A police investigation is underway against him.

However, the students were not satisfied with the administration’s decision.

On May 3, in-charge Vice Chancellor Efthikar Ahamed was transferred from the English Ministry to the Education Ministry after the survivor met Union Minister Smriti Irani.

Student organizations such as SFI and NSUI have called for Efthikar Ahamed’s dismissal from service, saying he is an “addict to sexual perversion” and a “perpetual offender”.