A day after a final-year PhD student from the Jawaharlal Nehru University was allegedly molested on campus, the students, led by JNUSU, organised a protest march from JNU to the Vasant Kunj Police station. The protestors were stopped on the way after police barricaded the road that leads to the station. The students said that the approach of the police was "lackadaisical" and reiterated that this was an "attempted rape" rather than a molestation case like the Delhi Police said.
The students marched from the North Gate to the Vasant Kunj Police Station after protesting at the gate. " The statement issued by the DCP is extremely casual in nature and shows no seriousness towards gender-related crimes. This shows the utter disregard and lackadaisical approach with which the JNU administration and Delhi police handle gender-related crimes," the All India Students Association (AISA) said in a statement. Student activists from AISA and a few other left organisations joined the protest.
The Delhi Police also took to Twitter to clarify their stand. "Yesterday, an unfortunate incident with a girl happened inside the JNU campus. Considering the gravity and sensitivity of the incident, the SWD police team led by DCP Gaurav Sharma acted promptly and cognisance was immediately taken," they tweeted on January 18. "In this regard case vide FIR No 42/22 U/s 354A/354B/323/341/379 IPC PS Vasant Kunj North has been registered and investigation is in progress. Several teams are working since then to nab the accused," they added.
The case was filed under IPC 354A (sexual harassment), 354B (assault on women, disrobing women), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 379 (theft). Madhurima, a student of the varsity and a member of AISA said, "Our march was stopped at the Paschimabad Gate of JNU. The Additional DCP had come. After that, the Delhi Police tweeted about the incident along with the sections under which FIR has been filed." PhD student and former Vice-President of the JNUSU, Sarika Chaudhary confirmed that the JNUSU has given them 40 hours to arrest the culprit.
The ABVP unit of JNU also protested on campus and demanded speedy investigation along with more security guards and CCTV cameras across the campus.
The incident happened around 11.45 pm when the woman was out for a walk after dinner near the Vice-Chancellor's residence, said JNU Students' Union President Aishe Ghosh. "The girl, who is a final-year PhD student, was out for a walk after dinner. She was near the VC's house when the man approached her. She had her earphones plugged in and thought that he might be looking for directions. As soon as she unplugged the earphones he came right up to her and said that he wanted to have sex with her. He was drunk and before the girl could react she was dragged off the road. He tore off her clothes and was unbuttoning himself she started crying and pleading. The man left hurriedly but took her phone with him," said Aishe. The girl was found sitting on the road by a patrolling van of the JNU security. "This happened 10mins later when the van reached the spot during their regular patrols. They the wardens were alerted and we also went to the spot," said Aishe.
While the JNU administration has not come out with a statement yet, the JNUSU has alleged inaction on the administration and the police's part.
