In a shocking incident, a student of IIT-BHU in Uttar Pradesh was allegedly molested and stripped by three men, who also recorded a video, on Wednesday night.
According to a complaint lodged by the woman, she came out of her hostel to meet a friend near the Gandhi Smriti Hostel intersection on Wednesday late night.
Both of them were near the Karman Baba temple when three men came there on a motorcycle and approached them, said police. They forcibly took her to a corner and gagged her after separating her from her friend. The accused then stripped the woman, made a video of her, and clicked photos. They let her go after 15 minutes and took her phone number, the complaint stated.
The student, in her police complaint, stated: “I am a resident of a hostel at IIT-BHU. On November 2, around 1.30 am, I left my hostel for a walk. I met a male friend… We were walking together when… a motorcycle with three men approached us from behind. They parked their motorcycle there and separated my friend and me. They shut my mouth tightly and took me to a corner, kissed me forcibly, took off my clothes and recorded photos and videos. When I shouted for help, they threatened to kill me. They let me go after 10-15 minutes. When I ran towards my hostel, I heard the sound of the motorcycle. Then, I hid at the residence of a professor, who took me to the security officials.”
“I don’t know what to say. We are not even safe inside our campus then where are we even supposed to go?” Ankita Sharma, a 2nd year student of IIT-BHU expressed to TTL.
In a statement, IIT BHU Students’ Parliament said that in light of these recent events, they are “launching an institute-wide protest”.
Soon after the protest, the IIT-BHU administration issued a notice: “All barricades in the institute shall henceforth be closed from 10 pm to 5 am… The guard at post may allow vehicles having BHU stickers/IIT(BHU) ID cards.”
On the basis of the woman’s complaint, an FIR has been registered under Section 354-B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 506B (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and under, and Section 66E (violation of privacy) of the IT Act.
On X, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, “Are BHU campuses and even top institutions like IITs not safe now? Is it no longer possible for a girl student in the Prime Minister’s constituency to walk fearlessly inside her own educational institution?”
When asked by TTL about what safety measures the authorities should take, Soumya Raj, a 2nd year IIT-BHU student answered, “It’s a university and a lot of people enter the campus throughout the day. The details of every person who enters the college should be noted down. Security should be made stronger. For the next 4-5 years, the campus becomes the home of students, and if a person is not safe in their home, then where else would they feel safe?”
Shivani Gupta, a 1st year IIT-BHU student, told TTL, “It’s just been a few months since I moved to college, and my parents who were already concerned about my well-being are now even more scared for my safety. My mother has even asked me to come back home as she said ‘I cannot live with the fear of my daughter living in such a place.’”
Source: The Economic Times
By , freelance journalist , reporting for True To Life