Delhi college girls allege groping during festival

NEW DELHI: Students of Delhi’s Gargi College have alleged that a large group of “drunken men” barged into their college premises on February 6 during a college festival and molested and harassed the female students. The students have said that the men, who were outsiders, broke into the college and groped the students, locked them in washrooms and misbehaved with them. The incident took place during the 3-day college festival “Reverie”.

However, a police official said that neither they have received any complaint nor any PCR call was made by the students or the college authorities regarding the incident. The principal also didn’t inform us about any such incident. If any complaint will come we will take action accordingly, police said. The students further alleged that the outsiders who barged into the college were participating in a pro-CAA rally nearby when they entered the college and harassed the students. In a social media post that has now gone viral, the students of Gargi College have said: “There were drunk, middle-aged men harassing us, molesting us and masturbating at us... I was groped thrice by a group of men inside that crowd and when I screamed they laughed...”.

One of the students said: “The men came in trucks and entered the campus around 4:30 pm during the festival. They continued to harass the girls for several hours and the ordeal continued till around 9 pm.”

In another social media post it has been said: “Girls were groped, locked in washrooms, stalked to the nearby Green Park Metro, cat-called, eve-teased and misbehaved with during the festival.”

Gargi College authorities are yet to lodge a police complaint. The college authorities said: “The event was open for boys studying in other DU colleges. We had police, commandos and bouncers on campus, and staff was also on duty. There was an arena in the campus meant only for girls. If they were outside that, it was their personal choice.”

Meanwhile, another student said: “I can’t confirm the allegations of molestation but a large a group of drunken men had dropped in and manhandled students. We will hold a discussion and stage a protest.” The student also said that when they went to the college authorities on the day of the incident, they were told not to attend college festivals if they are so scared.