NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said the misbehaviour with women students at Gargi College was “extremely unfortunate” and said that stringent punishment should be meted out to the accused must be given.“The misbehaviour with our daughters at Gargi College is extremely unfortunate. This cannot be tolerated at all. The culprits should be given stringent punishment. It should be ensured that the children studying in our colleges are safe,” Kejriwal said in a tweet.
Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia also termed the alleged assault on the students of Gargi College “disgusting”, saying fests were an opportunity to celebrate the cultural diversity and talent.“What happened at Gargi festival is disgusting! Such fests are opportunities to celebrate cultural diversity and talent in Delhi. But the obvious anti-social elements saw this fest as another chance to inflict harassment and violence on students!” Sisodia tweeted.
Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev alleged that the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry has completely failed in providing security to the college campuses.“The main question arises that campuses are not safe and who has the responsibility to do this, the Human Resource Development Ministry and Vice-Chancellor are supposed to provide security there,” Dev said.
Congress candidate from Kalkaji constituency Shivani Chopra also condemned the incident and arrived at Gargi College earlier in the day to express her solidarity with the students.“They are not letting me enter the campus. It’s a shameful incident. Chief Minister of Delhi should come out and stand in solidarity with the students. In fact, Home Minister Amit Shah should also come out and take cognizance of the law and order situation,” she added.
DCW summons college principal, DCP
Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) summoned the DCP and principal of Gargi College over alleged sexual harassment on its campus. Calling it “mass molestation and sexual assault on female students”, the DCW has asked the Principal and the DCP to personally appear before it at 2 pm on February 13. “Students have alleged a similar incident had taken place during the fest last year, but no action was taken by the admin,” the summon said.