PESHAWAR: A senior teacher of Khyber Medical College has termed the allegation of harassment, levelled against him by a girl student, baseless and untrue.

In a statement issued here on Sunday, Prof Rahim Bangash said that the student snatched microphone from him and thrashed him.

He said that he held all his students in high esteem and strongly condemned the negative campaign against him in media by certain elements for their ulterior motives.

Prof Bangash said that during his 28-year career he taught thousands of students, including those wearing veil, but never indulged in extra academic discussion.

Wearing or not wearing a veil was a private affair of any individual, he added.

Prof Bangash said that he never tried to influence anyone and preferred to teach despite being a trained sur-geon because he wanted to benefit medical students.

He said that on the day of the incident the discussion on the issue began with regard to use of veil in terms of medical ethics and academic viewpoint. `I only said that medical profession demanded facial contact of doctors with the patients,` he added.

In his opinion, it was not possible for any veiled lady doctor to deal with male patients, he said. Unfortunately the reaction of his student, a Canadian national, led to an unruly discussion.

Prof Bangash said that she snatched microphone from him and started addressing the class, over-exaggerating the issue.

To end the discussion, he asked her to return the microphone but she was reluctant. He regretted that in that process she staggered and lost balance.

He said he never slapped or tried to remove her veil, as alleged by her but asked her to leave the class.