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Two senior professors from Nanchang University in east China’s Jiangxi Province have been removed from their posts as dean and deputy dean of the Academy of Chinese Classics over accusations of sexually abusing campus students, according to an official announcement by the university on Wednesday following a preliminary investigation.
The announcement made by Nanchang University on Wednesday.
The sexual assault, as the latest Chinese episode of a string of workplace and campus sexual harassment that have plunged the world into shock waves over the year, thrust into the national spotlight after a Weibo user identified as @hekafeidemao11 revealed the traumatic experience of one newly graduate university student.
The victim, under the pseudonym Xiaorou, has been reportedly subjected to her deputy dean’s sexual misconducts for seven months.
According to the user, whose relationship with Xiaorou remains unclear, the senior scholar surnamed Zhou had been seducing his good-looking female students to wake him up in office after siesta and give him massages during study groups that he organized.
The Weibo user @hekafeidemao11 revealed the traumatic experience of Xiaorou.
Xiaorou, as a member of the study group, was thrown to the nightmare of being molested in 2016 after she was once forced to kiss and hug Zhou following the deputy dean’s confession of love.
Threatened by Zhou who claimed to thwart her graduation with relatives serving as gang leaders, scared Xiaorou has endured the sexual assaults for seven months and even tried to commit suicide multiple times until she received psychological counselling and finally decided to break her silence after graduation, Xiaorou was quoted as saying by @hekafeidemao11.
Dean of the academy urged Xiaorou to play down the case.
After reporting the case to the academy, the dean surnamed Cheng, instead of reaching his helping hand to Xiaorou, urged her to play it down taking into consideration the school’s reputation. He also turned down the student’s request for an apology, as shown in a message screenshot.
Xiaorou, it appeared, was not the only victim. According to @hekafeidemao11, another female student under the pseudonym Xiaolin also reported to be kissed and unbuttoned in an attempted sexual assault by Zhou after she was invited to the professor’s dorm to pick up learning materials.
Zhou, however, has denied the accusations in an interview, saying he did nothing wrong with Xiaorou.
“I neither sexually assaulted her nor seduced her,” Zhou told the Beijing News, adding it is also Xiaorou who first confessed her love for him despite him urging her not to do so.
Both Zhou and Cheng have been removed from their posts so far, Nanchang University said Wednesday on its official Weibo account. A campus working panel has also been set up for further investigations after the alleged victim reported the case to the school and local police on Tuesday.
Protesters attend a #MeToo rally inspired by the social media campaign to denounce sexual harassment of women in Los Angeles on November 12, 2017.
While the high-profile Harvey Weinstein scandal and the booming #MeToo social media campaign joined by millions worldwide sharing the experience of being harassed have proved that the workplace is no short of potential sexual assaults, reports show that campuses are also no longer a safe place due to lurking sexual abuses from misbehaved classmates as well as teachers.
A 2016 survey by the China Family Planning Association has found that more than one in three students at Chinese universities has been sexually harassed or experienced sexual violence, with 726 out of 18,000 respondents claiming to have been forced into unwanted sex.
(CGTN)
