UP professor arrested for sexually assaulting and filming female students in Hathras, UP. | (Photo Courtesy: X/@shivam_thakur93)
Hathras: A 50-year-old Geography professor in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, has been arrested for allegedly sexually abusing his students. According to police, he recorded 59 videos of the assaults and used them to blackmail victims into silence and further exploitation. The accused, Rajnish Kumar, served as the Chief Proctor of Seth Phool Chand Bagla PG College in Hathras and had been absconding since the allegations surfaced earlier this week.
Trigger Warning: The following content contains references to sexual assault and abuse, which may be distressing to some.
Investigation Unfolded Through USB Evidence
The investigation began after police received a USB drive containing explicit videos of the assaults. Authorities tracked Kumar down and took him into custody, where he reportedly claimed he could not recall how many students he had victimized. The case has sparked outrage, with officials vowing strict action against those involved.
Shocking Pattern of Abuse and Blackmail
As per a report by NDTV, Kumar admitted that he started recording his assaults only a few years ago, after a web camera accidentally captured footage of him molesting a student. This suggests that the number of victims could be much higher than currently known.
Sources further told the publication that he had taken bribes from students and their parents in exchange for better grades and job placements. He allegedly used these transactions as leverage to coerce victims into sexual exploitation.
Kumar informed the police that in 2009, he had a sexual relationship with a student, which was reportedly consensual. During one such encounter, a webcam on a computer unintentionally captured their act.
He claimed that this incident sparked the idea of secretly recording women being assaulted and using the footage to blackmail them into silence.
According to Chiranjeev Nath Sinha, the Superintendent of Police in Hathras, Kumar later installed specialized software on his computer to secretly record his assaults.
More About Ravi Kumar
Authorities revealed that Kumar was previously married in 1996, though the current status of his marriage remains unclear. The couple did not have any children.
Kumar began working as a teacher at Bagla College in 2001 and was promoted to Chief Proctor last year. His pattern of sexual abuse reportedly started in 2008. Over 65 videos have been recovered from his mobile phone, some of which were allegedly uploaded to pornographic websites.