Gargi College molestation: Students hold protest; Delhi Police launches probe
New Delhi, February 10
Scores of students of the all-women Gargi College on Monday held a protest against the alleged molestation of students by a group of men who had gatecrashed a cultural festival.
The Delhi Police said it has launched a probe into the incident and is scanning CCTV footage.
Police, however, have not received a complaint in this regard, a senior officer said.
Over 100 students held a protest outside the gate of Gargi College on Monday.
Students and teachers posted on social media about the incident.
As per their posts, during the college festival, ‘Reverie’, around 6:30 pm on February 6, groups of unruly, drunk men mobbed the entrances of the college and forced their way in.
The students alleged that Rapid Action Force and Delhi Police personnel were deployed close to the gate from where the men allegedly entered.
“There was a complete lapse of security. The students were groped, molested and even assaulted by the men who all appeared to be in their mid-30s. The college had claimed to set up security but I don’t think there must have been such an incident in any college campus across the country,” a student said on condition of anonymity.
Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal reached the spot to take stock of the situation.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Atul Kumar Thakur said appropriate action will be taken in the matter.
“We have not received a complaint in this regard yet. But we have began a sou-moto enquiry into the incident,” the DCP said.
Police are scanning footage of CCTV cameras to collect evidence and speaking to students to ascertain facts, he added.
The enquiry is being conducted by Additonal DCP (South) Geetanjali Khandelwal, Thakur said.
HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ said outsiders were behind the alleged molestation of students at an all-women college in Delhi and the administration of the institute has been told to take action.
Replying to a question of Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi in Lok Sabha, Pokhriyal said the government was aware of the incident at Gargi College, a reputed institute in the national capital.
“Those who were involved in the incident were outsiders and not students. It was not a good incident. The college administration has been told to take action in the incident,” he said during Question Hour.
Gogoi said sexual harassment and bullying often takes place in many higher education institutions and action should be taken in such incidents.
He also said a group of men allegedly molested the students after gatecrashing Gargi College during a festival.
Reports said the incident came to light when some of the students took to Instagram to narrate their unpleasant experiences during the fest at the college on February 6 and alleged that security personnel did nothing to control the unruly groups.
Replying to another question, the Union Minister said there has been a decreasing trend in dropout rate in higher education institutions like IITs and IIMs over the last five years.
“This has been achieved by taking a number of corrective measures to minimise the dropout which include appointment of advisor to monitor the academic progress of students and peer assisted learning,” Pokhriyal said.—PTI
