NEW DELHI: The woman scholar who has accused former St Stephen’s bursar, Satish Kumar , of sexually harassing her, broke her silence on Wednesday, saying she was speaking out in response to attempts by others to “malign” her.“Allegations are being levelled against me that I was forcing Dr Satish Kumar to write my thesis and had low attendance. People who don’t even know me are criticizing me on social networking sites,” she said, while requesting that her identity be protected.Hours later, the college’s non-teaching staff issued a statement in favour of Kumar and named the complainant in it.The scholar also countered St Stephen’s principal Valson Thampu’s claim — made in a written piece in a new channel website — that she was not a student of the college but registered with the university. She produced a document from October 2012, signed by Thampu himself, which said, “The selection committee… met on October 15, 2012 recommended yourself (the researcher) for placement as project fellow in St Stephen’s College.”The woman, 28, graduated and mastered in chemistry from a north campus college. When she came to Delhi University in 2005, she was the first girl in her village — Teekhi in Haryana — to go to college. In 2013, she became the first Teekhi student — male or female — to become a research scholar.The woman reiterated that she wanted to complete her PhD under a new supervisor and had approached the department with a request for a change. In an October 31, 2014 letter to DU’s chemistry department — complete with a “receiving” stamp and signature — she writes, “I am requesting you that please transfer the supervisor in the department because I don’t feel safe in my current lab and he is not guiding me… I need a supervisor who can carry out my research work.” She also requested for hostel facility.The status of her PhD, currently in limbo, worried her most. “I have completed the research but I need proper supervision and guidance which I have not received for over a year-and-a-half.” Her initial target for completing the thesis was March 2015 but says she’ll be “lucky” if she can complete it at all.“I will need the support of the university as I have none from the college,” she said.The woman admits that her family met Thampu and that after Kumar allegedly “apologized” when confronted, her father had advised her to “wait for some time”.“My father said, ‘Let’s see’. When he (Kumar) started creating problems with my research, I took up the issue again,” she said.The Union HRD ministry has asked the college for a report on the issue and on Wednesday afternoon, the Delhi Commission for Women too wrote to Thampu asking for an ‘action taken report’.The statement from the non-teaching staff, bearing over 70 signatures, said, “We the non-teaching staff regret the case against Dr Satish Kumar. He is a true and honest individual… No one has ever accused him of misbehaviour or indecency and he is a very humble. Prof Satish Kumar is physically disabled and the allegations against him are baseless.”The statement alleges that the charges against the assistant professor were “part of a deep conspiracy”. “We request you to deny the baseless allegations and hold a judicial inquiry. We also request you to reveal the forces behind the allegations of the PhD student.”