On Sunday, Delhi Police entered the Jamia Millia Islamia campus where students from the university were protesting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Reports state that the police fired tear gas cannons in confined spaces including the library and lathi-charged students. At least 200 people were said to be injured during the protests.
As many as 50 students were detained from the university. After visiting the students held at the Kalkaji Police Station, Activist Harsh Mander and advocate Choudhary Ali Zia Kabir issued a statement talking about the atrocities that took place on campus. Their statement added that female students were sexually assaulted by the police when the lights were deliberately turned off on campus so the CCTV wouldn’t capture the violence.
Wherever lights were switched off sexual abuse was shocking. Lights were switched off to prevent any recording in the CCTV cameras, but we are confident that some cameras would still have recorded sexual abuse. As to violence, the footage might run into several hours recording continuous assault.
-Harsh Mander and Choudhary Ali Zia Kabir
Read the complete statement here:
AP Siddiqui, the Registrar of Jamia Millia Islamia stated that he can’t confirm or deny the claims of sexual assault being made. An FIR will also be filed against the police by the university for entering the campus without permission.
We will file an FIR against the entry of Police in our university campus. You can rebuild the property but you cannot compensate for the things the students went through. We demand a high level inquiry.
-Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, Najma Akhtar
The allegations against the Police include a report stating that they tried to enter locked women’s hostel at the Aligarh Muslim University.
H/T The Wire