NAPM condemns assault on students of Jadavpur University
On 17th September 2014, students of Jadavpur University were brutally assaulted by Police personnel with assistance from local goons. This unlawful assault was showered upon the students in response of their peaceful protest against the authorities of Jadavpur University to address gender sensitiveness in the campus. Male police officers started beating the students by turning the lights off in the campus at 2 a.m. while the students were still protesting peacefully against the authorities of Jadavpur University. One student was taken into ventilation, 2-3 were taken in intensive care, tens of them have broken knees, arms, fingers, several have back, shoulder and body bruises from baton charging, women students were openly groped, molested, dragged, kicked on their stomach, stomped by boots, punched, walked over by male police and male goons. Some had their dress torn, some had their glasses broken, some had their laptop thrashed, phones broken. It has also come to light that the police and the goons have given rape threats to women students. One female student was dragged by her hair while her dress was lifted and she was thrown into the police van by 4 bouncers in civil dress. Throughout this entire process not a single women police officer was present at the scene of the incident.
This brutal violence came as a crackdown on a one-week long peaceful sit-in demonstration by the Jadavpur University students, demanding a fair and unbiased probe and punishment of alleged perpetrators in a case of an alleged molestation of a female student on 28th August in the university premises. The affected student filed both a sexual harassment complaint with the University';s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) and an FIR with the Jadavpur Police Station. The students of Jadavpur University were united on this issue and demanded that the identified alleged perpetrators should be arrested based on the prima facie complaint against them or they should be at least expelled from the hostel and campus. But according to them more than two weeks have passed but neither of the complaints has led to any redressal. Furthermore, it is also alleged by the victim and the students at large that members of the ICC had indulged in victim-blaming by asking the affected student about her dress and state of sobriety on the day of the incident. The authorities of Jadavpur University are treating the molestation case as one of 'indiscipline'; and not gender violence! This has led to them bringing rules for tightening surveillance on campus!
National Alliance of People’s Movements strongly condemns the misuse of police powers who have acted in an ultra vires manner. The action of the police is highly prejudicial as they have inflicted injury on the students who were protesting peacefully. The action of the police is also beyond their legal authority and violative of section 46(1), 46(4), section 49 and 129(2) of CrPC. Moreover this action has led to the infringement of the fundamental rights of the students guaranteed under the Constitution of India. We demand that all the matters between the students and authorities be resolved with proper dialogue, without any interference of police or local goons. We also strongly demand that the case of molestation filed by the female student be properly investigated, so that justice is ensured.
Amitava Mitra Sujato Bhadra Rahul
Madhuresh Kumar Meera Kanika