Reacting on a shocking incident of alleged sexual assault of a Kashmiri girl student on the campus around 9:30 pm on April 27, Jamia Millia Islamia issued a an important statement to the media.
An unfortunate and strongly condemnable incident of molestation was reported by a (Kashmiri) female day-scholar student of Jamia Millia Islamia yesterday, it said.
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“The university’s proctorial and security teams, along with the Security Advisor and Chief Proctor, acted speedily and alerted the Jamia Nagar Police Station. The police squad promptly arrived at the university gate and apprehended the accused.
“An FIR has been filed today under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) after the female student complained to the Jamia Nagar Police Station.
“The accused is in police custody and the matter is currently under investigation. The Security Advisor and the Chief Proctor of JMI are coordinating with the Police Station-Jamia Nagar offering all possible aid and cooperation to ensure that swift and suitable action is taken against the person responsible for the reprehensible act. The faculty members of the department where the student is studying are counselling her.
“Jamia administration views this extremely unacceptable instance of molestation with utmost gravity and is taking every possible measure to ensure the maintenance of law and order on campus. The Vice Chancellor, Registrar, Security Advisor, Chief Proctor, members of the Proctorial and security teams and other senior officials of JMI have been conducting regular rounds, since last night, to closely monitor the situation and to reassure the students on campus, especially girls, of their safety.
“The university administration is deeply and conscientiously committed to safeguarding the security and well-being of its female students and maintains a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy towards any form of violence against women. Not only did the university address the situation promptly yesterday night itself but the perpetrator of the deplorable act was immediately nabbed and the university authorities have taken multiple rounds of the campus, patrolling every nook and corner, to directly oversee the situation to ensure that the campus remains peaceful and secure for its students, faculty and staff,” it said.
Students groups on the campus condemned the incident and called for stern action against the accused. According to media report, the accused youth has been identified as a mess worker and a Muslim.
This incident comes on the heels of another major security lapse last month at the Hall of Girls’ Residence.
A video of the incident doing the rounds on social media has gone viral in which the student can be heard accusing the youth of molesting here. A few others can also be seen in the video who nabbed the accused and later on the Jamia administration was informed which informed the local police. Students claimed that a Kashmiri student was assaulted.
A Jamia student activist told the OT that what happened a day ago was extremely shameful and such things should not have happened.
“We want the investigation to be fully transparent, and if the accused is guilty, he should be punished according to the law,” he said.
The activist blamed the administration for the mess on the campus and the latest incident in which a Kashmiri student was assaulted. “They haven’t issued ID cards to the canteen employees and to the mess workers. There are many such workers at Jamia — almost 90 per cent don’t have ID cards. Just as students and teachers have IDs, so should the workers. We also want proper checking at the gates. A biometric system would be very beneficial,” he said.
Many students are of the firm opinion that security of students on the campus must be prioritised and outsiders should not be allowed entry especially at gate number 8.
Another student said such things only bring bad name to the university. “Just two days ago, there was a fight among student groups,” he said.
