“My mother wants me to come back home. Ever since the incident took place on Tuesday, she has been worried. Yesterday, when I video called her from the metro station, her first instinct was wonder if something had happened to me,” said a first-year student of Delhi University’s Indraprastha College for Women (IPCW).
On Tuesday, 28 March, ‘unknown’ men allegedly trespassed, shouted slogans and harassed women students at IPCW where ‘Shruti,’ a college festival was going on. DCP (North) Sagar Singh Kalsi had said, “There was excess crowd of students in the college near the gate. Suddenly, at around 3 pm some overzealous students started rushing to enter the college. In the process there was heavy pressure on gates and some of the students fell down. Some of them got injured."
The police said that a case was registered under Sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). 11 men were questioned. There have been no arrests yet.
On 29 March, a tweet by the official account of the IPCW read, "It is our priority to provide a safe academic environment to the girl students in the campus. A disciplinary committee will be formed to look into the said incident that took place at the college gate on the day of the college festival."
Another tweet read:
Since then, IPCW has worn a deserted look. On Thursday, The Quint visited the college, the hostel, and spoke to the students about what happened on the day of the fest, the trauma they’re holding on to, and how families of outstation students want them to return home.
'Friend Got Injured in Stampede-like Situation, Underwent Surgery'
A first-year student, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, said, “I understand why my mother is paranoid. We were scared that night too.”
She alleged that she saw some “men enter campus while the fest was going on.” On condition of anonymity, she told The Quint, “I could not sleep that night. I was afraid that men would be hiding somewhere inside the hostel.”
The incident took place on the second day of the college fest, right before singer Asees Kaur’s performance. Yogshree, a first-year student, alleged, “I was inside the college at the time. Passes were over and the gates were shut. That’s when a huge group of men entered the college. They started pushing people and a few women were injured.”
At least four students were injured during the incident. The Quint met one of them at Sant Parmanand hospital on Thursday. She underwent a surgery after injuring her femur bone in the ‘stampede-like situation’. The student was not in a condition to speak on Thursday, and is recuperating at the hospital.
The injured student's friend told The Quint on the condition of anonymity, "She was a volunteer at the registration desk. She said that it got very crowded at around 2.45 pm. People were getting impatient outside. It was then that the college shut the gate. People were getting aggressive and there was a lot of pushing. She fell down and others fell on top of her. She was screaming at the time."
A staff member realised that she was injured and helped her. She underwent a surgery the next day. Her mother and brother traveled to Delhi from their home town. They are struggling to foot the hospital bills.The injured student's friend
A 12-second purported video shows two men trying to climb a wall and another man helping them.
Another first-year student of IPCW alleged that slogans such as "Miranda, IP dono humara hai (Miranda and IP College belong to us)" were raised by some men.
She also claimed, “I also heard slogans such as ‘Jai Shri Ram’… Later, I watched videos of men mockingly asking women out with placards. They were behaving as if the college belongs to them.”
Another student who was inside KG hostel at the time, which is inside the campus, said, “A friend called me asking me about the situation at the gates. At the same time, there was an announcement in the hostel saying that the hotel gate will be shut.”
‘Could Not Sleep That Night’: Students
The KG hostel student said that WhatsApp messages were circulated saying that the event was cancelled. “It turned out that the event was held despite the chaos. Most of the people who attended were not even from our college. Only a few women attended, and they had to carry pepper spray along.”
Students gathered to protest at 11 am the next day. The protests were organised by student groups All India Students' Association (AISA) and Students' Federation of India (SFI). Delhi Police asked the students to disperse and 26 students were taken to the police station.
A similar situation took place during Miranda House's Diwali Mela in October last year, where several men climbed walls and allegedly molested students.
In February 2020, unidentified men had allegedly molested and harassed several women during Gargi College's annual college fest 'Reverie'. The police arrested 17 people who were later granted bail.
The IPCW student told The Quint, “Some of our balconies in the hostel on the first floor are possible to climb. We could not sleep the entire night because we were scared that the men would enter the hostel through the balconies.”
The day after the incident, no classes were held. Students said that this was because professors left late that night and because a protest was being held the next day.
The college was nearly empty on Thursday, which was a holiday for Ram Navami. Another student march is scheduled for Friday.
A student, who is not affiliated with any union, said, “We were all deeply affected by the incident, so we attended the protest near the college gate the next morning. We were taken to Burari police station instead.”
Tanvi Sharma, who is associated with the AISA said, “Quite a few students had gathered. We were detained and taken to the station.” Sharma added that ever since the incident, her parents have been quite worried.
My mother has been calling me and asking me if everything is okay… There was increased security and police involvement when we were protesting but nothing was done when the incident took place on Tuesday.Tanvi Sharma, a student
‘College Used to Be a Safe Space’
Two days after the incident, however, the mood inside the hostel was rather sombre. The assurances by the administration didn’t seem to have the desired impact, with students feeling angry and worried.
A first-year student told The Quint, “Ever since I walked into the college, I thought it was a safe space but that has changed now.” Her friend, also a first-year student, added, “A professor once told us that because our college is apolitical, we are safe. We had never imagined a situation like this in our college.”
Meanwhile, Yogshree claimed that she saw women panting, lying down right after the incident. “Luckily, I was not near the gate so nothing happened to me but it was very traumatising to see fellow students like that. There were creepy men all around me and they were making comments about the college, and the fest. It felt very unsafe. Professors were bullied too, and the men were misbehaving with the guards as well,” she alleged.
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