The South Asian University campus has witnessed massive protests in the past two days by students who have alleged institutional cover-up of the gang-rape bid
on one of their classmates from Bihar.
The students have occupied the administrative block since Monday, demanding a transparent probe and action against university officials, including hostel warden Rinku Gupta and hostel caretaker Anupama Arora, for alleged victim blaming, evidence tampering and delay in filing an FIR.
The protests escalated on Tuesday as students gathered at the main gate too. They alleged institutional failure to ensure students’ safety and demanded the resignation of the dean of students, Navanit Jha, and proctor Kapil Sharma.
According to the FIR, the incident occurred on Sunday between 8pm and 10.30pm near an under-construction building adjacent to the students’ mess on the campus. The first-year BTech student did not return to the hostel till late at night, which worried her friends.
After the girl returned to the hostel around 11pm on Sunday, warden Gupta and caretaker Arora allegedly tried to hush up the incident. They neither informed the police nor took her to a hospital till Monday 3pm. When the students asked them about the delay in calling the police, they dismissed the allegations of gang rape.
“The warden said victims of gang rape die after the incident. The caretaker blamed the victim and said she must have gone there because someone she knows very well
had called her. The officials tried to hush up the case with impunity,” said a friend of
the woman.
Another student said that students called the police around 3pm on Monday, after which the victim was taken to a hospital. Following counselling by doctors, an FIR was lodged early Tuesday morning. No arrest has been made so far.
Sources in Delhi Police said a case of attempted gang rape had been registered against four persons, including a security guard, but refused to divulge their identities. The incident comes days after an MBBS student was allegedly raped at a hotel in Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar. Delhi Police reports to the Union home ministry.
“The woman alleged that four men sexually assaulted her and attempted to gang-rape her on campus. Investigators are scanning CCTV footage from various locations on the university premises to gather all evidence against the accused,” said the source.
A probe revealed that before the incident on Sunday, the victim had been receiving threatening emails and messages for the past two to three days from anonymous numbers warning that they would morph her WhatsApp profile photo and circulate it online if she did not meet them.
“Following the constant threats, the victim walked towards the construction zone near the university’s convocation centre around 8pm where she was assaulted,” said one of the officers probing the case. She resisted and raised an alarm, following which the accused panicked and fled.
The police said the hostel staff allegedly asked the woman to change her clothes and take a bath, and assured her that the matter would be handled internally.
As the protests continued, the university constituted a four-member committee to “ascertain the facts and circumstances surrounding the incident”. The panel does not have a student representative. The students called the committee a sham.
In a statement, the university said: “We the SAU community, faculty, staff and students stand in solidarity in light of the alleged horrific act of sexual violence that has been reported on campus. The South Asian University condemns this alleged act of sexual violence, in the strongest terms and in one voice. We stand with our students, and assure them of our full support. SAU has a zero-tolerance policy on sexual harassment and all forms of violence against women. We strongly condemn, and stand in support, and solidarity.”
The institution was created with the joint effort of Saarc nations. The university, where students from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives are enrolled, has been running from the present campus in Maidan Garhi since January 2023.
A student was assaulted in February by members of Right-wing groups after she supported serving non-vegetarian food in the mess on Maha Shivratri. In 2022, the university saw protests over the demand for an increase in scholarship. The university called the police to crack down on the protests.
The students are now demanding institutional accountability to be fixed. “This is not an isolated incident. There exists a pattern of negligence, inefficiency, and a culture of impunity that continues to put students at risk and erodes any trust in the current administrative framework,” said a charter of demands prepared by the students.
They demanded an immediate and transparent investigation and implementation of student representation in the University Complaints Committee, in compliance with the Vishakha Guidelines. They also asked for 50 per cent student representation in all procedural meetings related to this case.
They demanded that the university provide financial assistance and compensation to the survivor and her family, and immediate steps to ensure 24x7 on-campus medical assistance, including a fully functional ambulance, proper street lighting and security on Gaushala Road and other high-risk areas on campus.
Since the university has taken disciplinary actions against agitating students in the past, the students demanded that there should be no retaliatory action against the woman, her friends, or any student participating in the protests. The Students’ Federation of India said the Centre was answerable for the horrific crime on the campus.