Taking suo motu cognisance of inaction by Benares Hindu University authorities into a complaint of eve-teasing and subsequent use of unwarranted force on agitating students, mostly women, by the police, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notice to the state government seeking detailed report.
The Chief Secretary, DGP and Vice-Chancellor of BHU were directed to include details of action taken against miscreants and precautionary measures taken to ensure that such incidents did not recur in future. The response has been expected within four weeks.
An NHRC communique on Tuesday stated that the Commission has observed that contents of media reports carried on September 25 and 26, 2017 were indicative of lapses on part of BHU authorities including security guards, who instead of taking quick action into the complaint of eve-teasing, allegedly, indulged in sarcastic comments towards the victim girl.
The students were protesting the incident of eve-teasing and inaction by security guards, and in return they were subjected to inhuman treatment by the police amounting to violation of human rights of the students. The university authorities should have acted sensibly as the matter related to the dignity of a woman. The police authorities resorted to rather harsh steps than the situation, perhaps, warranted.
On September 23, a girl student of Arts faculty in the BHU was subjected to eve-teasing by three men on a motorcycle inside the varisty campus while she was returning to her hostel around 6.20 pm. When thee girl resisted, the molestors abused and fled. As per thevictim, the security guards were barely 100 meters from the place of incident but they did nothing to stop the act.
Furthermore, when the girl complained to the Hostel Warden, instead of taking up the issue with her superiors, she asked the victim as to why she was returning late to the hostel.
The Warden’s response angered the student and her colleagues who sat on a dharna at the main gate of BHU and demanded round-the-clock security, fixing accountability of security personnel for untoward incidents targeting girls, adequate lighting on roads leading to girl’s hostel, CCTV cameras and checking at the gates, recruitment of women security guards and setting up of the gender sensitization panel as prescribed by the UGC.
The students tried to meet the Vice-Chancellor but they were not allowed. later in t he night, the police barged into the campus and mercilessly beat up the agitating students, mostly girls.
Girl students later told the media that they faced eve-teasing inside the campus regularly and the administration was not interested in taking action to stop the miscreants.
On their part, the BHU authorities claimed that the students’ dharna a day before the Prime Minister’s visit was politically motivated to malign the image of the university.