Differently abled students resume stir at Banaras Hindu University

VARANASI: Differently abled students of the Banaras Hindu University, on Thursday evening, resumed indefinite sit-in outside the residence of the vice-chancellor demanding an audience with him over a case of molestation in which son of a BHU academician is the accused.
On January 24, a differently abled girl student was allegedly molested by a youth on the pretext of offering her a lift.After a protest by the students, a case was lodged with the police and the accused was arrested. He was, however, let off on bail on January 27.
Allegations are that the accused was booked under mild offences as he happens to be the son of a BHU academician. Since January 28, the students are staging a sit-in demanding an audience with the BHU VC on the issue. They had called off their stir after being assured of a meeting with the VC on Thursday. However, when the meeting did not take place, the students resumed the sit-in which continued on Friday.
The mimicry artist of India’s laughter champion fame Abhay Kumar Sharma, who is also an alumnus of BHU, joined the protesting students. The students singing protest songs continued their dharna the whole night. “We called off the dharna we were given an assurance that the VC will meet us on Thursday. But later we were told that the VC is out of station, and the meeting will not be possible before next Thursday,” said one of the protesting students.
The students alleged that the police did not impose stringent sections of sexual harassment against the accused and that the girl students are constantly molested on the campus. They demanded that a legal team should be formed in the university for special attention to the safety of girl students. Justice should be provided to the disabled student and adequate security should be provided to all other students. The university should also arrange for a lawyer for the victim, they said.
A visually impaired girl student of BA (first year) alleged that she was sexually harassed by Asim Kumar Rai on January 24. When she raised an alarm, the people nearby caught Asim and handed him over to the proctorial board staff.
Later, Lanka police sent him to jail after booking under sections 354 A (sexual harassment of the nature of unwelcome physical contact and advances or a demand or request for sexual favours), 354 D (follows a woman and contacts, or attempts to contact a woman to foster personal interaction repeatedly, despite a clear indication of disinterest by such woman) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of IPC. On January 27, Rai was granted bail and released from jail.
On getting news of Asim’s release, the differently abled students of the BHU gathered near the VC’s residence on January 27 and started a sit-in alleging that the accused Rai was booked in bailable sections of IPC despite the fact that he had tried to sexually assault the girl student as he is the son of a BHU academician. They demanded re-arrest of Rai and resignation of chief proctor. They also raised slogans against the VC, dean of students and wardens of hostels.
Earlier, the BHU administration had appealed to the protesting students to end their protest and cooperate in maintaining the academic environment on the campus. The authorities said that the university administration is very serious about the issues expressed by the students and is taking all necessary steps in this regard. The chief proctor, Prof Abhimanyu Singh said that the university administration has taken the issues raised by the students seriously, and all possible steps are being taken in this regard. According to him, the entry of the accused on the university campus has been completely banned.