Security guards failed to act during violence, allege residents of JNU hostel

They write letter to dean, seeking action against hostel authorities and students who were part of mob

Police personnel guard as students and media are also seen at the main gate of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), in New Delhi on Monday, January 6, 2020.

Residents of Jawaharlal Nehru University’s (JNU) Sabarmati hostel, which witnessed large-scale violence on Sunday evening, have written a letter to the Dean of Students, demanding action against hostel authorities and students who were part of a rampaging mob.

“There were repeated rounds of violence in Sabarmati going on from 7 to 8 p.m.” but none of the wardens was available or those present were too traumatised to react, the students wrote.

As it happened: Masked goons strike terror in JNU, none arrested

Detailing the events, the letter states that a mob of about 70-80 people wielding iron rods and bricks charged towards the hostel around 7.00 p.m. The security guards present at the site failed to call for additional security or take any action, it adds.

Following this, “The gate was smashed by masked ABVP goons,” many of whom entered the boys’ wing, while others entered the women’s wing, the letter states.

The boys’ wing was vandalised by the mob and several students were badly beaten up, with “violent noises” coming from the mess and the boys’ wing, the residents alleged. During the attack, residents of Sabarmati who were ABVP members cheered on the hostel WhatsApp group and encouraged the violence, the letter claims.

In all this, multiple wardens who residents reached out to had either fled the scene, locked themselves inside their room in fear or refused to offer help, the students wrote. Additionally, security guards here had also abandoned their posts.

“The hostel administration was categorically informed regarding the unbecoming conduct of ABVP students...had been creating an unsafe environment in the campus and hostel,” the letter by residents states. They alleged that following an attack by Rithwik Raj, a resident of the hostel on Saturday, additional security was requested as the guards present had allegedly left their posts vacant between 3 p.m. and 7.45 p.m. But the appeal was not heeded, they said.

Residents demanded that all culprits involved must be suspended and “the harshest punishment” be imposed.