NEW DELHI: More than 1,100 people, including former DU’s IPCW teachers and students, have called for Principal Poonam Kumria to issue an apology for the recent incident of alleged harassment during a festival.
In a letter that they all signed, they also posed a number of concerns about the occurrence, challenging the management’s response and action. A week ago, at the annual ‘Shruti’ event at the Indraprastha College for Women (IPCW), some “unknown” men allegedly trespassed, shouted slogans at, and harassed female students. The authors of the letters are former teachers of the college, parents and concerned citizens.
“The undersigned consist of students since the early 1960s. IPCW has never seen times worse than what we are witnessing now. We, members of the academia and civil society, are deeply concerned with what is happening and strongly feel that the college needs to proactively protect its girls rather than further harass them,” the letter signed by 1,108 individuals read.
“Why is the College threatening students with dire consequences if they continue their protests, calling parents of the already traumatised students and creating an atmosphere of fear through punitive measures?” they asked.
“An apology would go a long way in restoring confidence and the camaraderie that IPCW has had over the past 99 years. We demand that students will be able to send their chosen nominees to be members of the investigation committee,” it read.
The incident garnered severe backlash. Following the incident, a number of demonstrations were held against the principal, during which the students also claimed that the newly appointed principal was attempting to “saffronise” the college by increasing monitoring and restricting free speech.
According to a statement from Kumria, the administration has asked the police to send a female officer to the college on Wednesday to document the allegations of the students.