Surajkund SI Suspended for Negligence in JNU Students Assault Case

Three JNU students were allegedly assaulted and beaten up by locals in Surajkund, Haryana, on 14 August.

A JNU student was allegedly assaulted and molested in Surajkund, Haryana, on 14 August. 

(Photo Courtesy: Reuters)

Three Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students were allegedly assaulted and beaten up with lathis by locals in Surajkund, Haryana, on 14 August. The Surajkund police station Sub-Inspector was suspended on 18 August for negligence of duty, said Faridabad Commissioner of police Hanif Qureshi.

The incident took place at around 9 pm, when the students, along with four others, were getting back from Bhardwaj Lake, Asola Wildlife Sanctuary.

The students alleged that the locals molested the lone woman in the group and threatened her with rape. One of the assaulted students, Dipanjan Das Kumar, told The Quint that the personnel at the Surajkund police station lectured the woman on the way she was dressed, and forced the group to write a maafinaama (apology letter).

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‘They Kept Calling Me a Musalmaan’

Dipanjan said the group went to the lake for an outing. The student recalled:

While we were walking back from the sanctuary, we were stopped by a man in an inebriated condition who started asking us what the woman was doing with us. After this, he called more people to join him and they started beating us up with <i>lathis</i>. They hurled abuses at us, called us ‘Katwa’ and ‘Musalmaan’ since I have a beard. They called my friend ‘R**di’ and ‘Ch*n*l’.&nbsp;

Dipanjan Das Kumar

The student alleged that the men groped their friend, beat her up, and dragged her to a nearby shed in an attempt to rape her.

They wouldn’t stop beating us. They called us ‘cow thieves’ and we knew that the attack was happening along caste and religious lines. In the middle of all of this, my other friend started making calls for help. After almost an hour, two men came to rescue us.

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The complaint filed by one of the assaulted students. (Photo: The Quint)

The complaint filed by one of the assaulted students. (Photo: The Quint)

When Cops Turned Moral Police

Their Monday night ordeal did not end there. After escaping from the sanctuary, the students approached a PCR van that they spotted on their way back to Delhi. However, they were told that the matter comes under the jurisdiction of the Surajkund police. The students then made their way to the police station.

“The police personnel there started harassing us. They started commenting about my friend’s clothes. She was wearing a dress and they told her things like ‘Ye tera kapda cheena hua hai ya itna he hai (is your dress torn or is it deliberately this short?).’ They also said something to the effect of ‘yeh England ka free sex ka culture jail mein karwate hain,’” Dipanjan told The Quint.

The student further alleged that instead of lodging an FIR, the officials forced them to write an apology. “We were told to write that we had gone to the sanctuary on a leisure trip, got lost, and then were rescued by the police. Since we were traumatised, we didn’t know what else to do,” he said.

The next day, the students headed to the Vasant Kunj police station to file a zero FIR, which was then transferred to the Surajkund police station.

The students, however, aren’t entirely satisfied with the charges filed.

“The charges don’t mention attempt to murder or even attempt to rape. We are now going to take this to the higher level and meet the Assistant Commissioner of Police,” Dipanjan said.

A copy of the FIR filed by the students. (Photo: The Quint)

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‘All We Want Is for the Culprits to Be Punished’

When The Quint contacted the Surajkund police station on 17 August, the Head Constable said he was not aware of any harassment taking place on 14 August.

Upon contacting Surajkund Station House Officer (SHO) Pankaj Kumar, The Quint learnt that the police found out about the incident at the station only after the FIR was transferred to them.

We got to know about this today. We will verify the facts before saying anything. There will be a proper investigation.

Pankaj Kumar, Surajkund SHO

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Faridabad, Astha Modi, added: “We are investigating and will call them to record their statements at the Surajkund police station. We are in the process of recreating the sequence of crime to identify the accused.”

While the police asserted that the facts will be verified, the fear in the students is palpable.

“My friend has received injuries on her chest, right breast, and right leg. She is in the hospital and she is in severe trauma. The point is that this can happen to anyone, anywhere,” Dipanjan said, adding that all they want is the culprits be punished.

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