Gargi College molestation case: Students to meet DCW on Saturday

Students of Gargi College will visit the Delhi Commission For Women on Saturday to get a status update on the commission's probe into the alleged molestation of students at the all-women college during a cultural festival, according to the panel.

The women's panel had issued a notice to the college principal over the incident, asking her to reply by February 13. The college sought more time and now, has till February 25 to reply.

On Wednesday, a session was held in the college to counsel students on how to deal with trauma after sexual harassment. The session was attended by over 300 people, including teachers.

The students had boycotted all classes after the incident. Now, they are holding hour-long boycotts as some students have examinations in April.

Sources said the students wanted to see the details of the college budget under various heads, including security for the fest, and were considering the option of filing an RTI query to extract the information.

A fact-finding committee constituted by the college has submitted its preliminary report after recording 600 testimonies. A final report is still awaited.

The students of the college had a general body meeting with the fact-finding committee.

The committee had found gross lapse in the overall security at the fest and that the college had underestimated the number of individuals who would attend the event.

It recommended an immediate sensitisation of the staff of the college to gender issues and also said that it would come up with a more conclusive second report to address the event in its entirety.

The committee laid emphasis on the fact that the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the college was "grossly biased and compromised" and that a new ICC should be formed as per the UGC requirements by the end of February.

"Since a lot of discrepancies exist on different levels, and the Delhi Police hasn't answered any questions posed by the committee, it shall need some time to form a final, conclusive report," it said in its initial findings.

On February 6, a group of men broke into the college and allegedly groped, harassed and molested girl students when a fest was underway.

The students had alleged that the drunken men, in their 30s, groped and dragged them and performed obscene acts, while the college security staff and Delhi Police personnel were mute spectators.

Till now, 17 men have been arrested in connection with the case.