A Christian college professor has been ‘suspended’ for sexually abusing a female student and harassing her mother as well in Tamil Nadu. Students allege a lack of attention and action from the church-run college management despite many girls falling victim. The professor is allegedly taking a political party’s support in suppressing the incident and escaping punishment.
Leo Standly, an Assistant Professor of the Chemistry department at St.Joseph’s College in Trichy, has been suspended by the college after his victim attempted suicide. The victim, an undergraduate student of the Chemistry department, was trapped by the professor who got close to her on the pretext of helping her. Reports suggest that the victim’s family was undergoing personal issues, which the professor took advantage of to trap her.
As per Tamilaga Arasiyal, a magazine’s investigative report, the professor raped her and threatened to outrage her modesty by revealing details. He used it as leverage to sexually abuse her repeatedly and started harassing her mother as well. “You look like a heroine, dear. I like you very much. I love you de chellam. Call me when your grandma is away”, he told the victim. When she refused to submit to his demands, he threatened her with marks as well.
He said, “Looks like you have become emboldened. I have your papers with me. I know how to suppress it(boldness)”. It appears that the victim’s parents are separated, and the professor used the situation to project himself as a ‘fatherly’ figure to get close to the victim and emotionally manipulate her.
He also targeted her mother by assuring her of employment and monetary help. On one occasion, when the mother encountered him in the college, he forcibly grabbed her hands for a handshake even though she folded them in response. She said, “He told me, ‘I have arranged for a job for you. You’ll definitely get it. Give me your hand’ and grabbed my hands despite my resistance and didn’t drop it for 5 minutes. I understood that he acted that way, knowing that I’m separated from my husband.”
He made sexual innuendos saying, “I’ll come to your house. Do you need money? I’ll give you. How many lakhs do you need? I am alone. You get it right?”. The mother says that she had to tolerate it considering her family situation and her daughter’s future. The victim has revealed that he spoke extensively about women’s rights and said that female students were his sisters. He gathered students to protest in the Manipur issue to project him as a social activist.
As the abuse continued, the victim couldn’t take it anymore and filed a complaint with the college administration. However, being run by Catholic priests who are infamous for sex scandals across the globe, the college management sat on it. The aggrieved victim reportedly attempted suicide and was admitted to hospital. Tamil media reports say that she had to undergo an abortion due to repeated sexual abuse. Only after that the college administration allegedly paid attention to the complaint, and many victims started to speak out.
Meanwhile, to escape punishment, the sexual predator professor reportedly pressured the victim and the college administration through Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, a ‘Dalit’ political party and ally of DMK. He also got his wife to file complaints under the SC ST Prevention of Atrocities Act claiming that he was being discriminated against based on his caste. The Vishaka committee investigated the victim and her mother and found the professor guilty. Following this, he was suspended for six months.
St.Joseph’s College is run by the Jesuit priests of the Society of Jesus. Professor Standly proudly mentions in his resume that “He takes part in the mission of the Jesuits in forming the young students as men and women for others by having Ignatian value in his teaching through Ignatian pedagogies.”
Media reports say that college employees revealed that the professor is a repeat offender and was earlier given a memo based on another complaint. Even after being transferred to another institute, he allegedly returned to St Joseph’s College using the political clout he wields through VCK.
In 2012, the same institution was in the news when Mary, a nun, accused Fr Rajarathinam, the then Principal, of raping her and making her undergo abortion without her consent. VCK had then staged protests alleging that the nun falsely accused the priest of rape to target him as he was a ‘Dalit’. Christian institutions have long been dens of sexual abuse, and the world has been waking up to the horrors committed by clergy recently. Yet governments don’t seem to be paying attention to the issue to keep their vote banks appeased.
