Students at South Asian University (SAU) have intensified their protest against what they believe is the administration’s attempt to suppress the alleged gang-rape bid on a student from Bihar.
The incident reportedly occurred on Sunday evening, with the survivor alleging that four individuals assaulted her on campus after threatening to circulate her morphed pictures online. No suspects have been identified yet.
The students expressed outrage over the university’s alleged apathy towards a grave allegation. They claim that the administration failed to treat the case with the urgency and sensitivity it demands, also accusing the police of going slow on the probe.
An FIR was filed only after students began their protest on Monday. The students demanded that the administration explain its “lack of seriousness” in the case. They also demanded the suspension of hostel warden Rinku Gupta and hostel caretaker Anupama Arora, who allegedly advised the survivor to take a shower after the assault.
The students also alleged that the hostel administration waited over 15 hours before reporting the incident to the police. They started the protest on Monday after they realised that the administration was trying to hush up the case. The university has formed a committee under Prof Sanjay Chaturvedi to investigate the case.
On Tuesday, the members of the committee met the protesting students, who had requested a meeting. The panel dismissed several of the students’ demands, including action against hostel staff.
The students continued their protest inside the administrative block on Tuesday, staying inside the building the entire night. Delhi Police entered the hostels at night for an inquiry.
The students said this was not an isolated case but part of a larger systemic failure.
“The culprits need to be identified immediately and due legal processes have to be followed. The investigation should include in its ambit the administrative stakeholders who have consistently failed to do their job, leading to a heinous crime on the university campus,” a student said, elaborating on the demands of the protesters.
The students stayed away from classes for the third day on Wednesday.