Kolhapur: A professor of a Kolhapur-based engineering college was arrested on Saturday night after a 20-year-old student accused him of molestation her and outraging her modesty. The college subsequently suspended the professor.
The complainant accused professor Sourabh Joshi — the head of the civil environment department of the college and a resident of Kolhapur city — of attempting to establish a physical relationship with her by calling her to his cabin and sending text messages that outraged her modesty. As per the complaint, the incidents took place between Nov 2025 and March 4, 2026.
The woman had not approached the college’s internal coordination committee set up to address grievances of such serious nature. She told the police that she did not raise the issue with the committee as she feared it could reveal her identity or may even lead to further harassment.
Assistant inspector Tabassum Magdum, of the Gokul Shirgaon police station, where the case was registered against the professor, said, “The professor used to hug the woman, send text messages and call her with wrong intentions. We are going to investigate whether the accused misbehaved with other female students at the college. The court has remanded the accused in magisterial custody for 14 days.”
The college administration acted after the case was registered and said Joshi has been suspended. “We are deeply anguished by the actions of one of our professors. We will cooperate with the police and ensure justice to the victim,” stated the statement issued by the college administration.
However, student associations demanded that the professor be terminated from the college. Manjit Mane, the district president of Yuva Sena of Shiv Sena (UBT), said, “We have demanded termination of the professor. There should also be a permanent police chowkey on the college premises.”
