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Security upped at IIT-BHU as student outfits stage protest
Boundary wall will be constructed for safety while CCTV cameras will be installed at all sensitive spots, say IIT-BHU authorities; students not in favour of division of campus
VARANASI Student organisations on Friday staged massive protests on the IIT-BHU campus, demanding arrest of the three-bike borne men who allegedly harassed and stripped a woman student here late on Wednesday night when she was out on a walk on the campus with a fellow student.
They submitted a memorandum of their demands addressed to the vice-chancellor of the Banaras Hindu University.
As per an FIR lodged by the 22-year-old survivor at the Lanka police station here, the complainant was out for a walk on the campus around 1:30 am with a male friend when three people on a bike ambushed them from behind. The men separated the duo and dragged the woman to a deserted place, she alleged.
Students associated with the Bhagat Singh Morcha (BSM), All-India Students’ Association, ABVP BHU unit and other organisations staged a demonstration on the campus, holding placards with slogans like ‘enhance security on the campus’ and ‘stop keeping girl students confined in rooms (hostel rooms ) in the name of security’.
Their other demands included implementation of Vishakha guidelines on the campus, formation of Gscash (Gender Sensitization Committee against Sexual Harassment) and workshops on gender sensitisation at regular intervals.
“The victim should get justice as soon as possible. The three men, who harassed the student, should be identified and arrested at the earliest,” said a member of BSM.
IIT-BHU authorities, in a statement addressed to students, said a boundary wall will be constructed for the institute’s campus for safety while CCTV cameras will be installed at all sensitive spots, including the girls’ hostels, at the earliest.
“A joint committee of IIT-BHU and CPWD officials will be constituted and entrusted with the task of surveying the institute campus for constructing the boundary wall so that the safety of the campus is augmented. The committee shall submit its report within a week and thereafter the divisional commissioner of Varanasi shall forward the same to the government for appropriate approval and funding,” read the statement.
However, the students, in their memorandum, stated they were against the division of the campus because, according to them, building a boundary wall between the BHU and IIT-BHU cannot prevent such incidents. Therefore, the decision to build a boundary wall should be withdrawn and foolproof security arrangements be made on the campus, they added.
ABVP members led by unit president Abhay Pratap Singh demanded speedy justice for the victim and enhanced security on the campus.
Singh said the decision to build a boundary wall on the campus should be withdrawn immediately and the number of security personnel be increased. NSUI echoed similar views.
Meanwhile, security was stepped up at IIT-BHU and a police officer was shifted to the police lines for dereliction of duty, a day after the incident. Guards deployed at the institute’s gates were seen to be carrying out strict checks on anyone entering the campus. No arrests were reported in the case till Friday afternoon.
Assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Bhelupur, Praveen Kumar Singh, confirmed that station house officer (SHO) of Lanka police station Ashwini Pandey had been sent to the lines for dereliction of duty.
“A meeting was held with the BHU officials and it was decided to deploy constables at certain places across the campus to stop entry of the outsiders and prevent recurrence of any untoward incident. Besides the four main gates of the university, constables will also be deployed at some other spots across the campus,” said Singh.
