UK Police files complaint against Oxford PhD scholar for allegedly bullying Rashmi Samant

More than a month after Rashmi Samant, the first Indian woman to be elected as the President of Oxford University Students Union resigned following heavy cyber-bullying, the British Police filed a case against an Oxford University faculty member in connection with the case.

As per reports, a case has been filed by Satish Sharma, Managing Director of the global Hindu Federation against Abhijit Sarkar, a postdoctoral history researcher at New College in Oxford University with the Thames Valley Police. In his complaint, Sharma has cited 'religious hatred, bullying and harassment of Samant at the hands of the Oxford PhD scholar.

Rashmi Samant & Oxford row

An alumnus of Manipal Insitute of Technology (MIT), Karnataka, Rashmi Samant had scored a landslide win to become the President of Oxford University Students Union. However, shortly after, she announced her resignation in an open letter as a response to the backlash she received surrounding the alleged controversial statements she made in the past. The Udupi-born student also apologised for 'unintentionally' hurting anyone’s emotions but reportedly claimed that she was unfairly targeted as a ‘conscious attempt’. 

After announcing the decision on Facebook, she deactivated her social media accounts. Her apology letter sparked a massive row after allegations emerged that the Indian achiever was bullied into resignation by several including those from within the Oxford faculty.

While speaking to Republic Media Network last week, she explained that her posts and captions from the were “grossly misrepresented” and there was a “huge smear campaign” against her. "I won the election to become the first Indian woman in the office and then it was just chaos everywhere. I was discredited, bullied, and effectively cancelled ultimately to my resignation. There was a vicious attack from all fronts...I was forced to deactivate my socials for the sake of sanity and resign," she added.

When Samant was questioned about who targetted and cyberbullied her or who are the people behind the ‘cancel culture’, she replied “I don’t know who these people are because mostly they were faceless, because I think they do take pleasure in being anonymous and in hounding people from behind...basically, they are just keyboard warriors.”