NEW DELHI: Two days after a 17-year-old girl was gangraped near Aastha Kunj on Monday, over 200 students of Lady Shri Ram College for Women took to the streets in protest on Wednesday.
The girls, most of them with their covered faces, gathered near the college’s back gate, close to where one of the accused was apprehended following a police encounter.
Carrying posters with bold messages like “Raaton pe bhi haq hai hamara” and “Women hold up half the sky,” they marched through the adjoining area raising slogans on women’s right to safety.
“It’s not my fault I crave the night air, it’s your fault you crave taking it away from me,” read another poster. The march flagged long-standing concerns over inadequate CCTV coverage and limited patrolling around the premises of the college.
Students further noted that cases of stalking and harassment were fairly common near the back gate area. Several even claimed that complaints of stalking and harassment near the back gate had been repeatedly raised earlier as well.
The protesters also alleged inaction on the part of the college authorities, claiming that the principal had not met them even once since they had started protesting.
The college’s sociology department issued a strongly worded note condemning the assault and expressing solidarity with the survivor.
Physical classes at the college—suspended on Tuesday and Wednesday following the incident and the police encounter barely 50 metres from the gate—are set to resume on Thursday. Principal Kanika Ahuja, however, said faculty mentors and counsellors had been asked to remain available, reiterating that student safety was paramount.
