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| A public petition posted by a female professor at Yeungnam University, who claims to have been raped by a male colleague, is accusing the university of trying to cover up the crime. The petition has gathered over 170,000 signatures as of Thursday morning. Screenshot from Cheong Wa Dae's official website |
By Lee Hyo-jin
A female professor at Yeungnam University in North Gyeongsang Province, who claims to have been raped by another professor, is accusing the university of trying to cover up the alleged crime.
She posted a public petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website, Wednesday, introducing herself as professor Kim Hye-kyung of Yeungnam University. The names of the people and university involved have since been blurred out by the website managers.
"I was raped by a male coworker working at the same research center (in the school), but the school is attempting to cover up the case. After the incident, I demanded that the head of our center separate him from me, but I was told to 'stop making a fuss,'" the petition read.
"Then, they began to exclude me from my work and duties by eliminating my position and not calling me in for meetings."
In addition, although Kim made a request to the gender equality center at the university to separate the male professor from students, out of concerns that similar incidents may happen, the university replied that such a measure was unnecessary.
The petitioner wrote that the school is only "pretending" to resolve the issue through a committee on sexual misconduct, and demanded that the government conduct a thorough investigation of the university.
The petition had gathered over 170,000 signatures as of Thursday morning.
Following mounting public attention, the university released a statement denying that it had tried to cover up the alleged crime.
"Regarding the case, a police investigation is underway, and the university has also been conducting its own investigation, following the principles and procedures of the relevant regulations," the statement read, adding that the university will do its best to conduct a fair and thorough investigation.
