HC urged to set up panel to probe police misbehaviour in Ramjas

Two Delhi University law students on Tuesday moved the Delhi High Court to seek directions for setting up an independent committee to probe the alleged misbehaviour and beating of women students by the police during Ramjas college violence last week.

Final-year law students Tarun Narang and Deepak Joshi also urged the court to issue guidelines to law enforcement agencies while dealing with students and media on university campuses.

"Police officials caught (hold of) female students in a very objectionable manner... touching their private parts," the petitioners said, adding that "Delhi Police was not able to handle and calm down the situation, which became worse when one group wanted to lead a protest march on the campus but some students interrupted it".

The plea said the tension between the opposing groups of students increased despite police presence, after which the situation turned violent.

The petitioners claimed the police used excessive force and lathicharged the students to bring the situation under control.

"It is unfortunate that female students were manhandled by Delhi Police, who used excessive force on them, punched them, slapped them and thus outraged their modesty," their plea said.

The two petitioners accused the police of stopping, threatening and manhandling reporters covering the protest march, and added that the police also broke the cameras and other equipment of the media persons.

On February 21, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarathi Parishad activists allegedly forced the Ramjas College to cancel a seminar in which Jawaharlal Nehru University student Umar Khalid, charged with sedition last year, was scheduled to participate.

The next day, ABVP activists were accused of attacking students, teachers and journalists during a protest march outside the Ramjas College.

--IANS

gt/tsb/vt