A notice was issued to the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s registrar on Saturday in connection with an alleged molestation incident on its campus, by the Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) seeking details of action taken on the issue, officials said. Earlier the incident took place on the night of January 17 on Aryabhatta Road near JNU nursery with a PhD student. The student was jumped by a man when she was walking down the road inside the campus.
The man allegedly attempted to rape her but when she raised an alarm, he snatched her phone and fled the scene before anyone could catch him.
The commission has given five days to the JNU registrar for providing a detailed action taken report. The DCW through the notice stated that following the assault, protests have been going on at the JNU over the incident, with students and teachers demanding that strict steps be implemented by the university to prevent sexual crimes against students.
The DCW, in its statement, said it has issued a notice to the JNU registrar, after taking “suo moto cognizance of media reports in this matter and sought details of action taken till now from the registrar on the issue”.
The students are demanding the reinstatement of GSCASH (Gender Sensitization Committee Against Sexual Harassment). It has been learnt that earlier, a GSCASH was in place to deal with complaints of sexual harassment in the university.
However, it was disbanded in 2017 and a legally obligated Internal Complaints Committee was set up in place of
GSCASH, the statement said. It appears that the disbanded GSCASH had a proper representation of students and teachers, and it was “more effective in dealing with cases of sexual harassment” than the current committee constituted by the university, it said.
The commission expressed concern regarding “lack of student representation in the current Internal Complaints Committee of the university”, and sought complete details of the members and process adopted in the constitution of the current committee and also of the last GSCASH, the DCW statement said.
The commission has also asked the university to highlight steps being taken for ensuring the safety of students on the campus.
DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal said, “It’s really sad that such an incident took place that too inside the university campus. Ensuring the safety of students inside the campus is the prime responsibility of the university.”
The JNU administration on Friday had said they have been coordinating with the police in the investigation of the alleged molestation incident on campus.