A medical student from ESIC Medical College and Hospital, Chennai, has alleged harassment by senior faculty members after questioning irregularities in hostel mess fund management. The complaint includes claims of intimidation, disruption during examinations, and administrative inaction. The institution has acknowledged the concerns and reportedly initiated an internal inquiry.
A final-year MBBS student at ESIC Medical College and Hospital, KK Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, has submitted multiple complaints alleging harassment by the Head of the Department (HoD) of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology and two other professors. The student, identified as Das Hunnykumar Pramodkumar, a native of Gujarat, has publicly shared portions of his complaint and related social media posts on a platform formerly known as Twitter, under the handle @hunnykumar1908. He has also posted that he filed a complaint to the Dean about what he described as “criminal activity” by specific faculty members.
The student states that the alleged harassment followed his attempts to seek transparency regarding hostel mess fund expenditure. He has posted that he received what he described as threatening warnings from the HoD of Forensic Medicine after writing about alleged mess fund irregularities.
The reported incidents occurred in January 2026. On 5 January, Das Hunnykumar alleges that he was summoned to the HOD’s office where he was instructed to switch off his mobile phone, was pressured to withdraw his complaints, and alleges verbal abuse and threats in the presence of other faculty members. During this meeting, he claimed that he was allegedly locked inside the Head of Department's chamber with two other professors and instructed to turn off his phone while complaints were discussed.
In his complaint, the student has said that only one month (September 2025) of the mess audit was displayed on the hostel notice board despite repeated demands for audits from January to October 2025. He alleges that while Rs 9.53 lakh was collected in mess fees in September, the accounts showed a surplus of Rs 90,851, and a gas bill entry of Rs 62,000 that he claims raised further questions about the cumulative surplus and unexplained expenditures. He also pointed to a ‘provision’ amount of Rs 4,10,500 for which details were not publicly shared by mess authorities.
According to his social media post dated December 18, 2025, the student published a screenshot alleging that ESIC Medical College was “not transparent in using mess funds” and called into question the use of mess funds collected from students.
A subsequent incident reportedly occurred on 8 January 2026, when the student alleges that the same HoD forcibly removed him from an Obstetrics model examination hall after his social media posts, preventing him from completing his assessment. The student claimed the HoD grabbed him by the neck and removed him from the exam hall, accused him of tweeting against him, and forced him to submit his answer sheet early.
The student’s grievance primarily relates to mess fund management, a system where hostel residents contribute monthly fees for meals and associated services. He alleges that financial records provided to students lacked clarity and did not adequately explain expenditure patterns.
After unsuccessful attempts to obtain detailed information internally, he filed Right to Information (RTI) applications seeking audited statements and wrote emails and official grievances. The student has stated that threatening phone calls and messages followed his filings and public posts. He claims to have submitted call logs and WhatsApp exchanges as evidence in his complaint.
On social media, the student has alleged that the HOD made threatening warnings and used language that he considered abusive after he asked for mess fund details through an RTI, and that attempts were made to coerce him to withdraw his complaints in writing. Other users on the platform have commented that harassment of students for speaking up on corruption is unacceptable.
The student submitted written complaints to the Dean of the college and to officials at ESIC headquarters. According to the ESIC Medical College administration, the college acknowledged receipt of the mess fund irregularity complaint and stated that a special committee had been constituted in December 2025 to examine the matter. The student welcomed the formation of this committee.
However, the student claims that even after informing the Dean and the Dean’s office staff about the alleged harassment, protective or corrective measures were not immediately implemented. He has shared screenshots of correspondence indicating that he sought a response from college leadership and ESIC headquarters. There has been no official public statement from the Dean or ESIC refuting the harassment allegations to date.
He also alleged that the committee formed to probe the mess fund issue was headed by the same HoD against whom he complained, and that other members were from the same department, which he implied could be a conflict of interest.
As of now, no disciplinary findings or official conclusive statements refuting or confirming the harassment allegations have been published publicly by the institution or ESIC headquarters. ESIC officials have stated that inquiries into mess fund transparency and related complaints, including any linked harassment claims, are ongoing.
The matter remains under review, with further clarification expected following the completion of institutional inquiries into both the mess fund irregularities and the harassment claims.
(Rh/SS/MSM)
