The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Tuesday released a report on the sexual harassment incident on March 28 that took place at Indraprastha College for Women, and sent interim recommendations to the institution, Delhi Police and Delhi University.
The report found several lapses on the part of the college, the police and the university in conducting the investigation into the incident during the cultural festival ‘Shruti’ at IPCW.
Even as the police arrested seven men who allegedly scaled the walls of IPCW and harassed girls at the fest, several student groups had protested against the college principal and demanded her resignation.
‘Lack of coordination’
The DCW, in its report, recommended that DU and the police design a coordinated strategy for ensuring adequate security before any fest is organised in colleges as there was currently complete lack of coordination between the two authorities on the matter.
In a statement, the commission said that before coming up with its recommendations, it undertook an inquiry into the matter, summoned officials and spoke to the survivors of the incident.
“In our interaction with the survivors, the Commission learnt that four persons were injured and a girl even sustained a fracture due to this harrowing incident. Also, in the past, similar crimes have occurred in other colleges in Delhi University including Miranda House and Gargi College,” it added.
Swati Maliwal, chairperson, DCW, said, “It is disappointing that no action has been taken against any official of Delhi Police or IP College over the security lapses. Girls are sexually harassed in their own college fests and the authorities are not doing enough to prevent these incidents, bring the guilty to task and to support the survivors. We have given our report on the matter and I expect strong action.”
The DCW has also asked the police to collect CCTV footage of the incident to identify and arrest all perpetrators. It also found that IPCW had not sought police permission for organising the event, despite a DU advisory specifically asking colleges to do so.
‘Police nod not sought’
It added that the college had written to the police seeking security for a crowd of 8,000 plus people in their premises but did not seek permission for the event.
“The Delhi Police told the Commission that IP College grounds cannot accommodate more than 2,000 persons and this was not informed by the college before organising the event, in which they had invited thousands of persons,” the DCW noted in its report.
Further, the commission said it had found that complaints of sexual harassment were yet to be forwarded to IPCW’s internal complaints committee, as of April 6. It also noted that existing guidelines of the DU were severely lacking on many issues. The norms do not list the standard operating procedure that colleges should follow before organising such events as well as steps to be taken to provide immediate support to survivors of sexual violence in case such an incident occurs, the DCW added.
