In another incident of hooliganism on the University campus, miscreants tried to beat up a female faculty member who came to the defence of her students.
On 30th August 2017, two female students complained about constant harassment and gawking they were being subjected to by an outsider, who was coming to the Cluster Innovation Centre’s canteen for the last couple of weeks. After getting a complaint, one of the faculty member confronted the guy and asked him to not to avail canteen services on the grounds of the complaint and the fact that canteen is open only for CIC students, faculty and workers. The accused apologized and left the CIC premises.
Next day, on 1st September, a group of 7-8 people barged in the canteen despite clear restrictions of no outsider entry. When they didn’t leave after over an hour and intimidated the canteen workers, the canteen worker complained to the faculty. The faculty member, who confronted them a day before, asked them to leave again and within minutes the encounter became violent. The miscreants boasted about their authority aggressively and insulted the professor.
The miscreants also tried to beat up a student who tried to record the entire incident on his phone. “They were speaking to the professor very disrespectfully, so I stepped in and told them to tone down. They didn’t stop so I sneakily started recording them. One of the guys noticed and they came after me, started pulling my collar,” says the student who was assaulted by the miscreants. “Later the guys closed the canteen door and threatened the workers to not serve anyone,” says Lalit Bod, a student who was an eye witness to the incident.
The security guards who tried to save the student were also roughed up in the process of protecting the student. The miscreants left the spot after the incident and later returned with canes and lathis and tried to beat up the teacher. They were stopped by the students who were present at the spot and intervened to protect their teacher from getting beaten up. “While I was standing near the lobby, I saw these miscreants coming towards the teacher with lathis. Immediately I and some of my friends rushed towards him and overpowered him. Then we took him away from the teacher”, says Siddharth Nandan, one of the students who intervened to save their teacher. Later all the miscreants fled from the spot.
Delhi Police has taken cognizance of the offence and registered a FIR for the case. “A case has been registered and we are investigating the matter,” said Pradeep Narwal, DCP of North Delhi.
After the incident, the CIC administration has put up a notice banning everyone from the campus after 7 PM. This notice has put many students who used to stay till late evening to work on various projects and assignments at a problem. “We used to watch lectures and use internet facilities for our academic work. Now sadly, we have to suffer for the work of miscreants,” said one of the final-year students who did not wish to be named. “The administration should not restrict the students, it should rather curb the illegal entry of outsiders,” he said.
Meanwhile, teachers and students are hopeful that the administration will take up the issue with police, and ensure that the safety of the students is maintained on the campus. Prof. H.P Singh, the director of the centre, refused to comment on the issue.
Image credits: DU Beat
Srivedant Kar
Niharika Dabral