New Delhi: A female student at the Indian Institute of Technology – BHU in Varanasi was allegedly molested and stripped by three motorbike-borne men on the campus on Wednesday, news agency PTI quoted police as saying. The incident sparked an outrage as hundreds of students staged protest, claiming outsiders were involved and demanded security measures be stepped up in the university campus.
According to the complainant woman, the incident took place while she was walking with a male friend near the Karman Baba temple. She alleged that three men arrived on a motorbike and forcibly took her to a corner and gagged her. They then stripped the woman, made a video of the act and let her go after 15 minutes after taking her phone number.
An FIR has been registered under Section 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under provisions of the IT Act at Lanka police station, police said, as reported by PTI. Efforts are underway to nab the accused, police added.
“We are boycotting all academic activities and holding a sit-in protest at DG Corner and the Director’s Office from 10 am on November 2,” a statement issued by the IIT BHU Students’ Parliament said.
“This is a heinous crime that has shaken the very fiber of our institution. It is not the first time such an incident has occurred on campus. Students have repeatedly raised concerns about security on campus, but the administration has failed to take adequate action,” the statement added.
Slamming the government over the incident, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asked if it was no longer possible for a woman to walk fearlessly inside her educational institution in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency.
Taking to X, she wrote, “A student of IIT, BHU has been sexually assaulted in Banaras… The brazen attackers have also made a video of the incident. IIT students are protesting against the incident. 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?”
Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal termed the incident "shameful".
Taking to X, she posted, “This incident raises serious questions about the safety of thousands of women studying at the university. Such an incident taking place on the campus of a prestigious university like BHU is a failure of the entire administration.”