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Chandigarh University pro-chancellor says situation would have been different if wardens handled video leak complaint ‘maturely’
Chandigarh University pro-chancellor RS Bawa says the wardens initially treated it as a routine complaint but as soon the matter came up with the university authorities, and found objectionable videos on the hosteller’s mobile, they immediately informed the police and an FIR was registered. The accused was also arrested immediately from campus, he added
A day after a massive protests erupted on the Chandigarh University campus, in Gharuan, of Kharar tehsil in Mohali, over suspicion that “objectionable videos” of several women hostellers had been recorded by the fellow inmate, the varsity’s pro-chancellor RS Bawa said that had the wardens handles the matter more sensitively, the situation would have been different.
He said the warden did not take the complaint of the hostellers seriously and treated it as a routine issue.
“She should have handled it more maturely. The warden never expected that the matter would escalate so much; she deals with around 500 girls on a normal basis. But as soon as she brought the matter to our notice, we immediately informed the police and an FIR was registered,” said Bawa, adding that the woman accused was also immediately arrested.
Detailing about the exact sequence of events, Bawa said that on Saturday evening, some girl students on the seventh floor of LC3 hostel suspected that one of the inmates was taking their pictures and informed the warden. The warden thought it was a routine complaint as the girls wanted her to leave the room and assured them that she will verify it.
“Later, when we checked the accused’s phone, we found that she had taken her own pictures and sent them to her boyfriend in Shimla. In the meanwhile, the other girls sent out messages on WhatsApp groups, which created panic,” said Bawa.
The pro-chancellor said, “Lessons have been learnt from the entire incident and we are renovating the washrooms of the girls’ hostel so that privacy can be maintained. We have made the wardens more cautious and directed them to deal with complaints of students maturely. We have already suspended two wardens of the hostel where the incident took place and have replaced other wardens too.”
When asked if the incident had tarnished the image of the university, Bawa said, “Not exactly; people know the university is not at fault. Students were involved in it, but we will be more cautious in the future and also take steps to sensitise our students.”
About the protest on Sunday, he said, “We managed to pacify our students and they even agreed to it, but some students from Panjab University came to our campus and raked up the issue. We did not anticipate that PU students will come to our campus, otherwise we would have stopped them at the gate only. We have closed the university for six days just to stop outsiders on our campus. We can control our students, but not the outsiders.”
