[ad_1]
SINGAPORE: The National University of Singapore (NUS) has responded to two students who said the school filed a police report against their wishes about their complaints of sexual misconduct.
The Straits Times reported last Sunday (Nov 1) that the students, who filed complaints with the university about fellow Tembusu College fellow Jeremy Fernando, said they were informed by NUS only after the police report was made.
Dr. Fernando was fired by NUS after he discovered he had “an intimate relationship” with a student.
The university said Wednesday that it did not inform any of the students when it would file a police report, but that it had a legal obligation to do so. NUS failed to reach the second student, he said.
READ: NUS has ‘fallen short’ in handling Jeremy Fernando’s firing, says Tembusu College Chancellor Tommy Koh
At a press conference at Tembusu College on October 23, Associate Professor Leong Ching, NUS Dean of Students and Associate Chancellor (Special Projects) said the university had reached out to brief both students before the police report and had managed to inform one of them.
“But we were unable to communicate with the other, and we informed both students immediately after (the report),” he added.
On Wednesday, the university said: “This may have given the impression that we had informed a student that NUS was doing a police report just before we did.
“We would like to clarify that what we had informed the student was that NUS had a legal duty to file a police report, and that it would fulfill this obligation in accordance with NUS policy, if she chose not to. NUS did not do so either. inform the student of when he will present the report “.
The university said it had also advised the two students to submit their own police reports, given the “serious allegations” they had made about Dr. Fernando.
NUS “successfully contacted” both students after the police report was submitted to update them, the spokesperson added.
READ: Institutions must be ‘open and timely’ when addressing allegations of sexual misconduct: MOE
NUS filed the police report against Dr. Fernando on October 21 “to comply with its legal obligations,” following allegations of sexual misconduct by two students.
“In presenting this report, NUS takes into consideration our obligations under the law, the need for transparency, and the need to protect the privacy and interests of all parties, including reasonable grounds for delay. As partial information on the matter was already public, a police report was imminent.
“NUS also has a duty to look after its students in general to ensure campus safety, and we weighed this in our decision to file a report without the prior consent of any of the students. If an allegation has been made, the police would in a better position to assess whether an offense was committed. ”
