Following complaints of harassment at the annual festival of a Delhi University's (DU) women college, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Monday sought reports and summoned officials in the matter.
Last month, students of DU's Indraprastha College for Women (IPCW) complained that unidentified men trespassed into the college, shouted slogans, and harassed women during the annual college festival. Visuals of men climbing on the wall of college campus had also surfaced on social media.
Mentioning similar incidents at other DU women's colleges in the past, DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal summoned the DU Registrar and Joint Commissioner of Police of Special Police Unit for Women and Children (SPUWAC). She also sought details of complaints and reports on action taken so far into these cases.
In the letters shared by DCW Member Vandana Singh, Maliwal wrote, "These incidents are emerging repeatedly in colleges of Delhi University which raise serious concerns regarding the safety of girl students therein especially during college fests...The Commission has decided to conduct an inquiry into steps being taken by Delhi University to ensure safety and security of girls inside the campus especially during college fests."
Maliwal also mentioned similar incidents at DU's Gargi College in 2020 and Miranda House in 2022. Both Gargi and Miranda are women's colleges of DU.
Maliwal sought the following details:
1. Action taken by Delhi Police for girls' safety inside campuses, details of police deployment
2. Reasons for not preventing cases like the alleged harassment at IPCW
3. Details of any action taken against official for security lapses
4. Copy of standing orders/rules/guidelines/instructions issued by Delhi Police in such cases
In a similar letter to the Registrar of DU, Maliwal sought similar details. She also sought the copy of enquiry reports conducted by DU on incidents in Gargi, Miranda, and IPCW.
Following the alleged harassment at IPCW, women students along with student bodies of Leftist organisations had organised protests in the North Campus area of Delhi University. They sought the resignation of IPCW Principal.
As per a report on Friday, police registered an FIR under IPC sections 337 (causing hurt by an act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 188 (disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant) and arrested seven people in the IPCW harassment-related case.
(With PTI inputs)
