Protests broke out on Thursday morning at the Indian Institute of Technology – BHU in Varanasi after a woman student alleged that she was forcibly kissed and disrobed by unidentified men on the campus. Security was ramped up after hundreds of students staged protest at the institute.
In her complaint, the woman said that the incident took place on Wednesday night when she was with her friend. The complaint stated that they were near the Karman Baba temple when three men came on a motorcycle and forcibly took her to a corner, separating her from her friend. The victim was then stripped before the accused recorded videos and clicked photos of her. She was let go after 15 minutes.
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“I am a resident of a hostel at IIT-BHU. On November 2, around 1.30 am, I left my hostel for a walk. I met a male friend… We were walking together when… a motorcycle with three men approached us from behind. They parked their motorcycle there and separated my friend and me. They shut my mouth tightly and took me to a corner, kissed me forcibly, took off my clothes and recorded photos and videos. When I shouted for help, they threatened to kill me. They let me go after 10-15 minutes. When I ran towards my hostel, I heard the sound of the motorcycle. Then, I hid at the residence of a professor, who took me to the security officials,” the student said in the complaint.
Following the incident, a case was lodged at the Lanka police station against unidentified men under sections 354-B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC and under the IT Act.
According to an official of the varsity, around 2,000 students protested at the campus. They claimed that people from outside the institute were involved in the incident and demanded that outsiders be banned from entering the campus. The students have also urged that the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) be separated from the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) campus by building a wall between the two.
The institute held a meeting with student representatives and said that they will pursue the proposal of a closed campus with the education ministry. “The institute shall actively pursue with the Ministry of Education and the University administration for the creation of a closed campus with restricted entry,” the BHU Registrar said in a statement.
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