A private university lecturer has been ordered to go on two weeks' leave after allegations of him sexually harassing female students and colleagues cropped up on social media. 

Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching announced this on Twitter today, linking it to a Free Malaysia Today (FMT) report on the alleged harassment. 

According to the FMT report, the suspect had sent sexually-charged messages to the victims via WhatsApp, Facebook and on Instagram as well. 

His "victims", in turn, took screenshots of the offending messages and shared them on social media. 

In fact, a dedicated Facebook account has been started to compile information from all of the suspect's victims, added the report. 

"The lecturer cannot control his disgusting tendencies. He has also, on many occasions, harassed his students verbally. 

"Besides his students, his victims also include others outside the university," said one post in the Facebook page. 

Among others, the lecturer allegedly made unsolicited vulgar comments about his students' physical appearance, which made them uncomfortable. 

Some of the messages that have been screenshot show him allegedly telling his students that they have a nice body, that they are getting sexier, encouraging them to wear shorter dresses, and questioning whether or not they were wearing underwear for the day. 

According to FMT, a university official, who refused to be named, said they were aware of the harassment claims and are in the midst of verifying and investigating the matter.