Another violent attack rocks JNU campus

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was rocked by another incident of violence on a woman when a 22-year-old Spanish language student was allegedly slapped and throttled by a senior who was reportedly obsessed with her, police said Monday. The accused has been arrested.

Abinandan Verma, who had graduated in Spanish language from the premier university, attacked the woman outside her hostel Sunday afternoon. The young woman, who hails from Rajasthan, was staying in Shipra Hostel on the JNU campus.

Police said Verma, in his 20s and belonging to Gaya in Bihar, had tried to throttle the woman and threatened her. Police said he had also molested the woman.

The victim told police that she and Verma were known to each other for the past several months. The girl told police that he was obsessed with her.

"On Sunday, he told me he was leaving JNU and wanted to speak to me. We were sitting and talking near the administration block, when suddenly he started abusing me and said he would get me thrown out of the university.

"He slapped me hard and even tried to throttle me. The marks are still there on my throat. He then tried to throw me in front of a car, but I somehow got saved," the victim told IANS.

The young woman alleged that no one came to help her, though she was screaming loudly for help.

"A security guard who arrived on the scene refused to help. He instead walked off with Verma as he was friends with him," she added.

Verma used to give her tutions.

"He used to teach me but after my classes began, I slowly started avoiding him. He got furious with me and two days ago he got drunk and threatened to commit suicide. He also slashed his wrists," she said.

"He (Verma) was a member of a students' political party in the campus. He had been booked in several criminal cases too," the victim added.

The woman said she had raised the matter at a meeting of the Gender Sensitization Committee against Sexual Harassment held in the campus Sunday night and thereafter lodged a case with police.

"Verma was arrested after the girl's complaint. He has been booked under sections of molestation and criminal intimidation," said a senior police officer.

Police said Verma had befriended the woman when she was seeking admission in the university.

This attack comes five days after a JNU student brutally hacked a woman student with an axe and then killed himself.

The male student had come armed with a pistol and axe and poison into the Korean languages classroom during a brief recess and attacked the woman in full view of other students. The woman is undergoing treatment in a city hospital.

Meanwhile, a committee formed to avert such incidents inside the campus said that they were unaware of the latest incident.

"We have no idea about the incident. The girl could have informed us but went to the police first. We will check on the matter," JNU professor Kamal Mitra Chenoy, a member of the gender sensitization panel, told IANS.

"We will issue a circular in the campus about the committee and will conduct counseling so that such incidents can be averted," he said.