Students at SFU are concerned the university has not taken seriously complaints about an alleged serial sexual harasser following women around on its Burnaby campus.
As many as 50 women have posted on social media about encounters with a man who enters classrooms, asks women for their phone numbers and tries to follow them home – going as far as getting onto the same buses, according to Jashan Singh Randhawa, a former SFU student who this week compiled a list of the incidents reported on Facebook (and to him personally) and forwarded it to SFU security.
Third-year student Linh Luu told the NOW she has been approached three times since last September by the man, described as being of South-East Asian descent and between five-foot-three and five-foot-five.
(One woman described him as being “jittery.”)
Each time, Luu said, the man pressed her for her phone number and Facebook information, and each time she had to escape into a washroom to shake him because he wouldn’t leave her alone when asked.
She reported the final incident to campus security on Jan. 17. Security was also provided with a photo of the man at that time.
“They understood the situation and that it was really serious,” Luu said. “They did ask me if I wanted to file a police report, but at the time I was just so traumatized I didn’t want to do it.”
After seeing a Facebook post about the same man this week, Luu said she regretted not reporting him to police.
“It made me so angry and so sad for all those girls because I know how scary it feels,” she said.
Randhawa said he got involved because women he knows from his time at SFU have told him they are scared to be on campus because of the man.
“I care about some of these girls like my own sisters and people I look up to,” Randhawa said.
He said the man has been harassing and stalking women for years, and SFU security has not done enough to deal with the problem.
“My concern is that security has not been doing their role in getting this guy arrested,” he said.
According to SFU communications director Kurt Heinrich, however, the university first got the complaint Monday.
Security staff identified the man Wednesday, Heinrich said, and issued him a trespass notice barring him from all SFU campuses.
RCMP were contacted Wednesday night and opened a file Thursday morning.
“At this time we have not been able to verify that yesterday’s incident is related to any other complaints – though determining this is part of the investigative process,” Heinrich told the NOW Thursday.
As the concerns expressed about the serial harasser multiply online, SFU security director Steven MacLean cautioned Randhawa about pursuing the matter on his own.
“I fear that some of the information you are providing is not accurate and may be infringing upon the liberty of others as it relates to their rights to safety, security, and privacy,” MacLean said in an email to Randhawa. “Importantly, any interviews or other activities you plan on taking could jeopardize the investigations of the police and/or the University. I must advise you to stop conducting any action you are taking related to this matter so that we may preserve the investigative process.”
Instead of Randhawa investigating the matter, MacLean advised him to encourage women to report incidents to campus security and take advantage of numerous safety and security resources available on campus, including the SafeWalk program and the sexual violence support and prevention office.
“SFU takes a position that harassment of any type is not acceptable and we are deeply committed to providing members of the university community with a safe, supportive and respectful environment in which to live, learn and work,” Heinrich said.
