At Jamia students' legal desk, 170 testimonies filed alleging police action

At least 170 students of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) have lodged complaints with the legal desk set up at the university following the violence of December 15 on campus claiming Delhi Police is refusing to listen to their grievances.

Students of the law course started the legal desk after the December 15 violence during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Sharjeel Ahmed, who heads the desk, told PTI, "We have so far received 170 complaints from the students who faced violence, harassment and abuse on the day of the incident. As Delhi Police refused our complaints directly, we set up this desk to compile all the complaints and take them to the NHRC and later to the court with the help of senior advocates."
Huda, an MA journalism student, who also lodged a complaint alleged, "I was in the campus and making placards on CAA. We were near the main gate when the violence began. I ran away and hid in the washroom and for an hour, I heard firing of shots. When we came out, the police started harassing, made us sit on the floor and began questioning. The police harassed many female students."
Another girl student who claimed she faced harassment on the campus alleged, "The policemen were even trying to manhandle girls and students were dealt with as if they are criminals or terrorists. The students were abused with cuss words. I have registered my complaint under Section 354 of the IPC."
Advocate Nabila Hasan from Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) said, "We met the students admitted at the hospital and recorded their testimonies. We compiled the documents and I filed a petition with two other women who were victims of the violence. We have been seeing the testimonies that they have been filing with the legal desk. We will be further helping them to fight in the courts and get justice."