A female graduate of Nanchang University, filed a lawsuit on July 11 against the university and Zhou Bin, a professor who allegedly sexually assaulted her in 2016 for about seven months. The student sued the university in East China's Jiangxi Province for failing to protect her from sexual assault, the first such case in China involving a college.

According to court documents, the victim said the university, as an institution of higher learning, should provide virtuous teachers. The university removed Zhou in 2017 as deputy head of its Academy of Chinese Classics and suspended him, the report said. "The university has failed to offer adequate security and protection as the Ministry of Education requires, which led to Zhou's behaviour. It should be held liable as well," the report said.

The student has demanded that the professor should pay her 140,000 yuan in damages, including 10,000 yuan for psychological consultation, 80,000 yuan for therapy and 50,000 yuan for mental distress. The student said she sufferes from Stockholm syndrome, wherein victims sympathise with their predator. "My psychological condition is bad, often immersed in fear and confusion. I often have nightmares. The university can pay my psychological consulting fee first and then seek money from Zhou," the student wrote on her Sina Weibo (China's version of Twitter) on Monday.

The lawsuit was filed in the people's court in Nanchang's Donghu district on July 11 and the student is waiting for the court's decision. Cheng Shuijin, the institute's head was also removed from his post. The student was allegedly assaulted for the first time on December 2016. If the student wins the case, it would encourage other victims of sexual assault to come out. Chinese media has reported 14 sexual assault cases at China's universities since 2014.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 19, 2018 11:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).