Gargi College, Delhi University
A shocking incident has come to light from Delhi's Gargi College where girls were molested, groped and locked in the washroom by goons on loose in the campus. IndiaTvNews.com spoke to some of the girls who narrated their ordeal that is shameful and disgusting.
It's been three days since the horrifying incident of sexual harassment took place at Delhi University's Gargi College. The incident took place during the third day of Gargi's Annual Fest 'Reverie'. The annual cultural festival took place from 4th February to 6th February 2020. Despite having a strict entry procedure, it witnessed shocking incidents of molestation and harassment.
According to the students, the first two days of the fest were relatively peaceful, however, the third day turned out to be horrendous. Several girls were groped and abused during Jubin Nautiyal’s concert on 6th February.
This is not the first time such an incident happened during the college fest. In 2019, similar instances of molestation and abuse took place due to a lack of security during the fest. The students had filed an official complaint regarding this but the college administration didn't come forward. After this, the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) was dissolved which made students unable to raise their issues.
The students told IndiaTvNews.com that the complaint was dismissed as a mere security issue, not a sexual harassment complaint. Post that, no elections were held for the post of the student coordinator of the Internal Complaint Cell. The individuals involved in the administration of the ICC have been holding the post for more than 3 years, which violates the constitutional value of ICC.
This year the Annual fest had a pass system--every student can bring one male student along with her in the fest. The male students were supposed to show the pass while the students of Gargi College were supposed to show their ID cards.
" 3 pm onwards huge crowd gathered and they started pushing the gates. The administration failed to control the crowd. After the crowd accumulated in the premises, the harassment began. The men were pushing, groping and it was disgusting and horrifying. They were few of them who did not look like students," said a student requesting anonymity.
The students of the college will be protesting against the carelessness of the administration on Monday.
"We have not filed any complaint yet since we don't the mechanism of addressing our issues anymore. To whom do we file the complaint? However, we will file a police complaint after we have all the testimonials from the students, most probably tomorrow," the student added.
Another student said: " After 3:30 pm, every ten minutes, crowds of 300-400 individuals would push the gates and enter the college. The administration also showed its laxity by opening gates from time to time. Although the entry was to be stopped at 4:30, the influx continued till late. The police force and the RAF did nothing to control the situation."
During the fest 3,000-4,000 is the permitted footfall, however, approximately 8000-10,000 individuals accumulated in the campus. The individuals jumped the gates, sat on the stalls of vendors, and damaged the property. "Men stood in gangs and ogled at women, groped them, tried to feel them up, pushed them, and touched them throughout the concert."
Another student said: "I entered the campus around 4:15 pm. We have separate gates for men and women. For the time I witnessed that men were exiting from women's gate. I quickly went to the security in-charge and informed her about this. She said there is nothing to worry and she disappeared into thin air. I didn't see her again throughout the fest. As I moved towards the ground to meet my friend, there was an unattended student lying unconscious on the ground. I helped and asked her what happened she said that a man started masturbating at me and I got a panic attack. I attended to at least 6-7 medical emergencies on similar lines. Around 4:30 pm the gates were supposed to be closed but they were not. Around 6 pm, the gates were broken open by the men. A sea of men came inside who were unverified and did not go through any security check. My male friends told me nobody was checking the passes. When they tried to personally show the passes, the security officials said andar aa gye na ab jao."
"I was in the middle of the massive crowd and I was stuck in it. They were about 10,000 people. A group of 3-4 men groped me and I couldn't move out. I was stuck between this group for over 40 minutes. When I finally escaped from the crowd I went to a empty space behind a stall, my friends were waiting for me. I was scared so friends went to bring water for me. I sat there and suddenly a man in his mid-thirties appeared and he started masturbating at me. I ran away, " she added.
"Tomorrow we are filing a complaint against the administration for their carelessness. When we asked the Delhi Police personnel that why they are not doing anything they said instructions nahi mila hai abhi--We also asked them what they are doing here? They said, "fest ke liye".
"We are filing an FIR against the principal and we want her resignation ASAP. We are also filing RTIs to know about the security budget which committed to the fest," the student said.
The students also alleged that the college administration told students not to come to college if they feel unsafe.
Earlier the artworks of the photography society and fine arts society of the college were taken down for being 'anti-establishment'.
India TV tried to talk to the administration but got no response until the filing of the story.
Indiatvnews.com will update the story as and when we get some response.
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