New Delhi: Some were heading back to their home and some to their relatives’ place as fear gripped several women students who were leaving the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus Monday, a day after a mob stormed the university and went on a rampage. The women students were seen wheeling their bags out of their hostels and leaving the south Delhi campus.
Many girls students leaving the campus requested anonymity and said their parents were concerned following the violence Sunday evening.
Pancham, who was leaving the Koyna hostel – one of the three hostels that witnessed violence – said she was leaving the campus fearing for her safety.
“My parents too are concerned about my safety,” the second-year student of MA Sociology said as she was headed back to her home in Haryana.
Another woman student, who hails from Nepal, said her parents, too, have asked to leave the campus. The student, who was staying at Yamuna hostel, said her parents insisted that she moved to her relative’s residence in Gurugaon.
However, there were exceptions as many said they would stay put. Monica, who goes by her first name, said she would not leave campus despite pleas by her parents.
“I am the president of the Sabarmati hostel. I have certain responsibility, so I cannot leave,” asserted Monica.
Meanwhile, there were quite a few other students who were both angry and fearful. Some demanded that the guilty be booked.
There was an uneasy calm in the campus where there was a massive deployment of security personnel and authorities only allowed students with valid ID cards inside. However, these measures did not assuage the concerns of students over their safety.
Shreya Ghosh, a resident of Shipra Hostel, asked how goons could enter the campus with rods and sticks and said, “The attack could not have happened without the connivance of the administration and police.”
Shreya claimed that she had to hide in Sabaramati Hostel after the masked men chased her and some other people.
Akarsh Ranjan from Periyar hostel said students had received threats that they should not come out of their rooms.
According to other residents of Periyar hostel, a group of masked people had entered their hostel around 4.30pm and banged on doors, forcing many students to flee the hostel from back door exits.
Many of them went without food Sunday night as the food had to be thrown away.
“The food was prepared by 4.30pm on Sunday. After we heard that people were barging in, we locked the mess and went upstairs. They broke open the mess door. They did not touch the food but we did not feed it to students because we were scared they might have mixed something in it,” said OP Tiwari, a mess employee.
Aman Kumar, a PhD scholar said a mob had vandalised the mess around 4.00pm.
“They were banging on the door but my roommate and I pushed one of the beds against it so that they could not enter. We left from a back door. I had food at Koyna Hostel and spent the night at Lohit Hostel. I came to collect some things at my hostel around midnight but all the rooms were locked,” informed Kumar. He also said many students had left Godavari Hostel out of fear.
Surya Prakash, a visually-challenged student, said he was scared after being attacked in Sunday’s violence.
“They came to my room and beat with me rods. I told them I am blind but they continued the assault. I have been hit badly and I will have to go for an X-ray. I’m scared after yesterday’s violence,” Prakash said.
Agencies