After an alleged rape attempt on a third-year law student by Advocate Niranjan Kumar, protests erupted on the campus of Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), Patna where the student studies. She started her internship at Niranjan and Associates in the month of December.
The accused, who is an advocate in the Patna High Court, was arrested by the Bihar Police on December 24, on the charges of attempt to rape, according to media reports. However, Bar and Bench reported that the advocate was granted bail on December 26. Students from the university informed EdexLive that they protested on campus demanding cancellation of the aforementioned bail and suspension of the advocate's license.
According to the complaint filed by the student, which EdexLive has a copy of, the student stated that she was called inside his chamber to procure the internship leaving certificate. Following that, he passed lewd comments on her and attempted to rape her, she stated in the complaint. She managed to call her friend who arrived at his residence with police, who took action, according to the complaint.
Students' demands
Students from the university claimed that the matter was not investigated properly. "There was a delay of almost a day in providing an FIR copy to the accused and before that, her identity was revealed by circulating all the details on social media networks and even the victim and her family
initially found out about the details mentioned in the FIR copy through third party sources like social media," the students said in a statement. They demanded the constitution of an independent committee to investigate the matter.
The students also claimed that the accused was provided with a comfortable environment during his arrest. "It’s a matter of utmost concern that, on one hand, the accused was provided with a conducive and comfortable environment by the station in charge, while the victim who was battling an assault on her modesty, was under considerable pressure and was not guaranteed complete support there," the students said in a statement. They also stated that the officers tried to intimidate her by stating that her future will be at stake if a complaint was registered.
The protests were called off after assurances by the Superintendent of Police that appropriate action would be taken in the matter, students said. Meanwhile, students received support from the university's administration and other women advocates of the Patna High Court who condemned the incident.
Solidarity from female advocates of Patna High Court
Women advocates of the Patna High Court held a general body meeting on January 3 and took note of the actions of the concerned advocate. "A resolution has been taken to strongly and vehemently condemn the depreciable and hateful act of Advocate Niranjan Kumar with his female intern in his office chamber. This misconduct of the concerned advocate is beyond any level of tolerance and the trauma of the young law student is deeply felt. Thus, we are all seriously concerned about the safety of law interns and other female legal professionals," they said in a statement.
They further resolved to propose to make a request to the court to take up the matter suo moto and order a proper investigation by an agency which is "uninfluenced" along with ensuring a speedy trial in the case and providing adequate security to the victim. The resolution was undersigned by 95 women advocates of the court.
When EdexLive reached out to Vice-Chancellor of CNLU, Smt Justice Mridula Mishra for a comment, she declined stating that the matter is sub judice.
