A female PhD student from Afghanistan, studying at Lucknow University in India, has been suspended on suspicion of stalking and defaming a roommate on social media.
Citing the university’s chief proctor Rakesh Dwivedi, local media reported that all university privileges have been revoked pending the student’s written response to the issue.
Dwivedi said: “The accused girl has been suspended until further inquiry. Her hostel allocation and other university privileges have been revoked, and she is prohibited from entering the campus.”
The Lucknow University’s proctor office issued the suspension notice on Saturday after the student was found to have engaged in “shady” activities.
India’s First Post reported the student allegedly misused the government ID of an Indian girl studying at the university in order to get SIM cards which she later used for stalking and creating fake IDs on social media.
According to reports, the student used the SIM card “to mentally harass another student from Afghanistan who was pursuing her BCA degree.”
Indian media state the girls had been roommates in the Nivedita girls’ hostel on the university campus. First post reported that a conflict between the two students led the PhD scholar to take pictures and videos of the BCA student, which she then used to create a fake Instagram account.
Using this fake account, she allegedly posted inappropriate messages in Persian, tagging the victim’s family members in the posts.
Times of India reported that the Indian student had entrusted her government ID to the PhD student but that she had misused it. Upon receiving a complaint from the victim, the proctor’s office investigated the matter and confirmed the allegations against the research scholar.
Consequently, she was suspended and issued a show cause notice. University officials also discovered that she had used the acquired SIM card to harass other girls.
Media reports state that Lucknow University has given the PhD student three days to provide a written explanation. Failure to comply within the given timeframe will result in severe actions taken against her, assuming her inability to defend herself against the charges.
