Street lights outside Jawaharlal Nehru University’s North Gate “mysteriously” switched off on Sunday evening when masked men unleashed violence inside the campus, eyewitnesses said, adding that the lights turned back on once the mob had dispersed.
“While the State-sanctioned armed militia was at the main gate of JNU... abusing, heckling, threatening, beating, and intimidating journalists, doctors, activists, women and others, all the street lights outside mysteriously went off and stayed off,” said lawyer Vrinda Grover on a Facebook post.
“It was dark, and so hard to take videos and photos of this mob. The police stood by without raising their hand or their voice [sic],” she said, adding that when a large number of students from other campuses arrived at the spot, “The mob was provided safe passage. The lights came on! [sic]”.
Anjali Bharadwaj, an activist, and Sanjay Srivastava, a professor at the Institute of Economic Growth, confirmed that the mob left the spot around 11.30 p.m. after which the lights were switched on.
People attacked
With the lights off, it was very difficult to see anyone and or what was happening, Ms. Bhardwaj said, adding that the darkness added to the lack of security during which a few people were heckled and attacked.
Mr. Srivastava said some people were beaten up by the mob in the darkness. The mob started to disperse around 11.30 p.m. when people from other colleges campuses started gathering near the JNU gate.
