DCW issues notices to Delhi Police, Gargi College over molestation of students

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Monday issued notices to Delhi Police and Gargi College for their alleged inaction in the "molestation" of students by a group of men who had gatecrashed a cultural festival.

DCW Chief Swati Maliwal also spoke to several female students in the college about the incident.

"We have issued notices to Delhi Police and Gargi College for inaction. We will conduct an inquiry of our own into this incident. We demand detailed investigation and arrest of the accused," Maliwal said.

She said there is absolute lack of responsibility in the way Gargi College and Delhi Police reacted to a serious incident like this.

"The girls have testified and shared painful experiences. Instead of taking action and registering complaint, the college authorities told the students not to attend the college festival if they felt insecure," she said.

Maliwal said the policemen who were present could have registered a complaint but they didn't.

"They stood there watching. It has been four days but the police and the college has kept quiet about it. They cannot shrug off the responsibility of investigating incidents of sexual harassment and molestation that took place on campus on February 6," she said.

Over 100 students held a protest outside the gate of Gargi College on Monday.

Students and teachers posted on social media about the incident.

As per their posts, during the college festival, 'Reverie', around 6:30 pm on February 6, groups of unruly, drunk men mobbed the entrances of the college and forced their way in.

The students alleged that Rapid Action Force and Delhi Police personnel were deployed close to the gate from where the men allegedly entered.

"There was a complete lapse of security. The students were groped, molested and even assaulted by the men who all appeared to be in their mid-30s. The college had claimed to set up security but I don't think there must have been such an incident in any college campus across the country," a student said on condition of anonymity.