An administrator who worked at one of the top colleges in Chennai – Loyola College had filed a petition in the Madras High Court in February 2016 as she was terminated from her services after she complained of sexual harassment by a Father Xavier Alphonse.
Mary Rajasekharan the petitioner in the case was appointed administrator in July 2010.
Mary had discovered that the director of Loyola Alumni Association, Father Xavier Alphonse, was siphoning nearly ₹1 crore from the corpus of the association and directed it to a personal trust run by him.
A copy of the petition was made available to the Swarajya magazine by All India Christian Forum President Savio Rodrigues, who is the publisher of the Goa Chronicle and has covered this case in detail.
One of the other serious complaints made by Mary against Alphonse was he had misused the scholarship scheme of the college. According to Mary, Alphonse was giving scholarship to ineligible candidates. But even after the college management was appraised in 2013, the management only reduced Alphonse’s powers. This had irked Alphonse who had started harassing and abusing Mary since then.
Mary also said she was subjected to harassment at “every possible instance”. She said, “…sometimes he (Father Xavier Alphonse) behaved in a manner unbecoming of a reverend priest. In fact, he even attempted to create a rift in my family. I brought these matters to the notice of the management of the college who tried to pacify me but failed to take any meaningful action”.
Another case of financial irregularity was also reported. In 2013, Loyola College had organized “Star Night” attended by celebrities who were alumni of the college to raise funds for building a ‘Commerce Block’ in the campus. Mary and her son Joseph Dominic Kennedy who was the executive member of the Alumni Association had put in their best efforts to make the event a success. However, Father Xavier Alphonse had subverted their efforts by distributing a large number of tickets to his friends and family. He also siphoned off the funds received from the celebrities to a personal trust run by him.
Mary had reported the irregularities but the administration took no action. After her repeated complaints she was transferred in February 2014.
Father Alphonse continue to harass her sexually even after this episode. She took up the issue with the college management who had dissuaded her from filing a police complaint citing that ‘it could affect the image of the college’. She was told that Father Alphonse was being transferred and that she should wait till then.
Meanwhile, Father Xavier Alphonse had instigated a member of the alumni association to file a false complaint against her son Joseph Dominic Kennedy. Mary had then written to Coimbatore City Police Commissioner AK Viswanathan, an alumnus of the college in the hope of initiating an inquiry.
Authorities in the college have not yet responded to the charges made by Mary. However, retired Bombay and Karnataka High Courts judge, Michael F Saldhana, has given his support to Mary’s cause by writing to Madras High Court Chief Justice A P Sahi.
In the letter sent on 21 July, Judge Saldhana said the delay has hurt him and said that it also reflects very seriously on the working of the judiciary.
There is a clear indication that the management was indirectly trying to shield Alphonse’s activities. Also, no enquiry into the sexual harassment as per the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 has been carried out by the college management.
Mary Rajasekharan is 62 years old and in a letter, written by retired Justice Saldhana, to Madras High Court Chief Justice has pointed out that “even belated justice is the next best” despite the delay so far.
Mary’s case has now been referred to the National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for Women.