“Around 6:30 p.m. on February 6, the field was so massively crowded that there was no space to move. Two of my friends who were accompanying me, they had held my hands so that I don’t get lost in the crowd as there is no cell reception on the field. Suddenly immense pressure came from behind and my hand got jerked off so I lost my friends for the next 10-15 minutes, and in those minutes, I was molested thrice,” revealed a second-year student of Political Science, Gargi College.
“I was groped thrice, somebody reached for inside my skirt and the problem was I couldn’t move out of it,” she said in a choked voice.
The instances of molestation and assault have been popping on Twitter since yesterday and these are undisputably scary, but what is scarier is the college principal making cold statements about the incident.
I passed out as a BA (Honours) in Political Science from Gargi College in 2016. If I were to tell you one of the many things that I loved about my college, it was the annual cultural fest. As a member of the PMR (Public and Media Relations) society, out of three years of college, I spent a lot of time organising Reverie, Gargi’s annual fest. The last two days have been extremely upsetting for me as I am seeing multiple videos and disturbing stories all over the Internet about what happened in the college on February 6. Gargi–a place that gave me a sense of security and peace–will now be remembered as the college where mass molestation happened on the campus.
What Happened On Feb 6?
Several security forces also deployed to manage the crowd #GargiCollege #Molestation #Reverie pic.twitter.com/FO66RE1k9T
— Sushmita Panda (@SushmitaPanda) February 9, 2020
Several students of Gargi College alleged that a large group of men barged into their campus on Thursday and molested them during an annual fest. A group of drunken men reportedly entered the college affiliated to Delhi University and harassed the students.
While this is extremely shocking and infuriating, several Twitter threads shared the terrifying details of the incident. Students also alleged that security personnel at the college did nothing to control the unruly groups.
Students Demand Action
Today was a tough day for the students of Gargi College as they protested against the college administration for lack of security, resulting in harassment. The students have given two days to the administration to fulfill all their demands until then they will boycott all the classes. Here’s a Twitter thread that tells us more:
First, a list of the demands made by us. There were many other questions which were raised, but this was the base. We also demanded all of their statements to be given to us in written. pic.twitter.com/BktjLusLh6
— kar (@donpenguinii) February 10, 2020
College Principal Apologises, NCW acts
After reports of refusing to take any responsibility, Principal of Gargi College has finally issued an apology. Interacting with the media today, Dr. Promola Kumar said, “We at Gargi unequivocally condemn the outrageous incident that took place on February 6 during the annual fest. We are committed to the safety and security of our students, we’ve set up a fact-finding committee.”
According to Twitter, however, this was her statement on the day students reported mass molestation on the campus:
Big Question: No Fear Of Law?
Mass molestation happened in the heart of the capital and no action was taken for several hours. Students were groped, molested and assaulted and by men who appeared in their mid-30s. What times are we living in? Times, when police brutality is seen on students, protesting inside their campus and the police inaction is seen when hundreds of women are molested inside their own campus. If we don’t speak up now, goons will coming for us next.
Featured Image: Twitter
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