On Saturday evening, Sandhya Gautam uploaded an Instagram post addressing her college, the Kathmandu School of Law, expressing her disappointment at the institution’s indifference to addressing a complaint she filed three months ago.

“Dear Kathmandu School of Law,” the post begins. “It has been months since I submitted an application urging you to investigate Yubaraj Sangroula, the executive director’s actions. Months since I called attention to the way this institution is run, where sexual harassment cases go unnoticed, unresolved and unspoken. And yet, your silence remains.”

Gautam added, “But silence does not erase the truth.”

Following Gautam’s post, which has been shared over 4,400 times on Instagram as of Sunday midnight, hundreds of current and former students of the college have joined her in calling out the institution, its executive director Sangroula and the teaching staff, accusing them of harassment and misconduct against students, especially against women and non-binary students.

Gautam said she submitted a formal complaint, which she has included in her post, to the administration on December 5, 2024 demanding investigation into Sangroula’s “repeated misconduct” and his suspension.

But her attempts to speak out were met with intimidation, including calls to her parents, she said.

“How do you move so quickly to threaten those who speak out but let predators roam freely in your halls?” the post reads. “I refuse to be another name in your long list of silenced voices.”

The accusations against Sangroula, who is also a former attorney general, are extensive.

Gautam describes him as carrying a “predatory energy”, alleging he often makes graphic and inappropriate remarks about women’s bodies, commenting on pregnancy, postpartum appearance, and using degrading analogies.

She further claims that he makes direct and unsolicited sexualised comments to students during private conversations and has coerced female students into giving him “back massages”.

According to Gautam, several complaints of sexual harassment have been made against Sangroula but the administration has ignored them.

Several current and former KSL students the Post spoke to confirmed the allegations. “Even in college, we have heard of several such charges of sexual misconduct against him, and these need to be investigated,” a current student at the college told the Post, requesting anonymity.

Sangroula has also reportedly made derogatory remarks against LGBTQIA+ individuals and threatened students who advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights with consequences. He once claimed that all students’ mothers should have “miscarried them” simply because they failed to answer a question, Gautam wrote.

The claims are not just about Sangroula but other faculty members too.

Teaching staff allegedly engage in inappropriate behaviours with students, including first-year students who are minors or barely adults, Gautam writes.

They openly discuss graphic sexual content in public settings, creating discomfort and distress for students, she adds.

Moreover, according to the social media post, faculty members deny the existence of marital rape and have created a hostile environment for those who challenge such views.

Victims who confront their abusers or report misconduct face stricter punishments, the post further says.

The Kathmandu School of Law, commonly known as KSL, was founded in 2000 as an affiliate of Purbanchal University. It bills itself as a community-driven institution committed to inclusive legal education. It is one of the very few private institutions that provide law education in Nepal.

Ironically, while KSL’s website claims “no discrimination” and “positive discrimination” for marginalised students, allegations of normalised sexual harassment, homophobia, class discrimination, and abuse of power paint a starkly different picture.

Describing the campus as an “unsafe environment”, many students have come forward to share similar experiences.

“KSL is run by teachers and people who just bully you, and fail you if you speak up,” wrote one student in the comments section of Gautam’s post. “Sangroula holds a grudge and refuses to teach the whole batch of students when a student confronts his bully behaviour.”

Another added, “For Sangroula, there are no LGBTQIA+ individuals. He harassed a student in the fourth year and compelled him to drop out!”

Yet another: “He is an outright bully. I left his institution for similar reasons.”

The post gained further traction when the social media page LRR (Lawyers’ Room Reloaded), a platform providing legal updates and discussions, weighed in.

According to the founder and administrator of the page, the platform was initially created during the lockdown to connect law students across various colleges.

It began with memes and love confessions but soon started receiving disturbing accounts about the “toxic environment” at KSL. Students shared confessions detailing experiences of sexual misconduct, misogyny, and homophobia.

Common confessions concerned the director’s abusive behaviour. Women students were reportedly threatened with suspension and told that even if they complained to the police, it wouldn’t matter because the director had connections within law enforcement.

Male students were allegedly threatened by the director with statements like, “I can call 50 goons with one call, and you will disappear.”

Many students also claimed that those who spoke out faced academic retaliation, including low internal marks.

The confessions also revealed that the college environment is deeply divided. Students from middle-class and marginalised backgrounds who challenge the director’s actions are often boycotted, while those from affluent families receive preferential treatment. Some students idolise the director, while others live in constant fear of his oppressive behaviour.

“The executive director is extremely powerful, so no one dares to come forward publicly. That’s why students shared their experiences through anonymous confessions,” the LRR admin told the Post.

“We posted them for a while, but we faced retaliation from the college administration and some students too [either out of loyalty or fear]. So, we stopped.”

After Saturday’s Instagram post, LRR page has again received a flurry of new confessions, mostly involving the director.

Speaking to the Post, Sangroula denied all the allegations.

“These claims need to be proven—when, where, and to whom such things happened,” Sangroula told the Post. “I am outspoken in the media, and perhaps someone is upset with me, using this as a form of vendetta.”

According to Sangroula, if the allegations were true, at least the names of the people [responsible faculty members and victims] would be mentioned.

When reminded that his name had been mentioned in Gautam’s post, Sangroula answered that it was part of a “propaganda against the institution and me as its executive director.”

He added, “This feels like an orchestrated smear campaign aimed at tarnishing the reputation of our institution, which has a strong standing.”

While he has strongly denied the allegations against him, he shared that the sexual harassment committee is looking into the claims involving other teaching faculty.

KSL’s administration has yet to respond to the allegations. Rubin Shrestha, the head of information, communication, and student welfare department at the college, declined to address the claims directly. “The campus will issue a press release soon addressing all the concerns,” he said.

In response to Gautam’s claim of no action against the perpetrators for months, Sangroula explained that since exams were ongoing at the campus, it chose not to disturb the students.

“Also, we organised a moot session on LGBTQIA+ human rights a few years ago, so how could we discriminate against them?” he said. “I don’t even know any LGBTQIA+ individuals that they are talking about.”

Meanwhile, in a news report published on Nepalviews.com on Sunday, Sangroula denied all the allegations, saying, “The person accusing me [Sandhya] has depression.”

When the Post asked Gautam about Sangroula’s comments and denials in the news report, she responded, “He’s weaponising my illness. Can’t a person with depression raise their voice?”

Gautam also stated that Sangroula has fabricated details in his denial, but she will not stop fighting. “After my post, several other victims and alumni reached out to me,” she said. “Hearing their pain and stories has been overwhelming.”

She added, “You think threats will make me step back. But I am not afraid now and never will be. You can fail me if you want, but you can’t silence me.”