MeToo: NLU Odisha student alleges sexual harassment by NLSIU student, takes to Twitter to narrate incidents

A third year student of National Law University, Odisha (NLU Odisha) took to Twitter on Sunday to blow the whistle on a fourth year law student at National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore who has allegedly been harassing her "sexually, physically and mentally"..The tweet revealed that she was being abused by her harasser for months on end. She was forced to register a criminal complaint against the NLSIU student and his family members when the situation got out of control. .As per the tweets, after she filed the complaint, the harasser's family members flew down to Bangalore and persuaded her to take the complaint back. Though the girl reluctantly agreed to this, she put forth certain conditions, including putting an end to the harassment she has been subjected to over the past months. On Sunday, she realised that her MakeMyTrip account was accessed by the NLSIU student and that her tickets to Kolkata were cancelled..The girl revealed to Bar & Bench that she got to know of the harasser towards the end of 2019 through a mutual friend at NLSIU. "Things were fine initially, then he threatened to hit me and forcefully had sex with me. I tried to break contact with him, but when I was in Delhi for an internship, he kept calling me, and eventually forced me to come back home to Bangalore. In November 2021, I had to undergo an abortion procedure during which time he was completely absent from the situation. In January 2022, I had to return to college and thought of systematically distancing myself from him. He then began contacting my friends and called me constantly to share that he has been feeling anxious. Things only got worse from there - he hit me to the floor when I experienced a panic attack. He constantly engaged in abusing me mentally as well, by saying nasty things. He also tried to criminally intimidate me about my personal information and was cooking up stories that he would reveal publicly." The NLU Odisha student also said that the harasser used to come home and force himself upon her, even after the doctors had strongly advised against intercourse..She added, "At first, he went back on his abusive behaviour due to fear of being exposed, but later went back to his abusive behaviour. I then approached NLSIU's Sexual Harassment Redressal Committee facilitators, who have been helping me out. They called him out at the college internally.".It was also alleged that despite tendering an apology to the investigating officer and vowing to refrain from harassment, he continues to mentally harass the NLU Odisha student..The girl's tweet has gone viral, garnering more than 700 retweets and 3,000 likes. .Speaking to Bar & Bench, the boy denied all the allegations that have been tweeted and went on to say,."I cannot go into the details since the matter is sub-judice. However, I was with the person throughout all medical procedures, physically, emotionally and financially. As for the ticket cancellation, it has been completely misunderstood...I had an agreement with the person that there will be no communication of any sort and there will be no association between us in any form whatsoever. Yesterday, I received an email from MakeMyTrip on my college email ID saying a ticket has been booked from my account. I realised she used my account to book the ticket. We were under an agreement that under no circumstances there can be any communication whatsoever. My family members mentioned the reason to her on why the tickets were cancelled and offered to refund the cancellation charges. There was no instance of any harassment or troubling anyone. We were just trying to go by our side of the agreement which was not to communicate or associate in any way. I had no option but to cancel the ticket." "I am 100% sure that I was there with the person through and through the procedure in every possible way," he added..The administration at NLSIU confirmed that the procedure regarding sexual harassment was in motion, and that the University could not discuss details of the same with anyone.