Banaras Hindu University witnessed the molestation of a 19-year-old inside the campus on 21 September by three men on a motorbike who had their way with the student while the guards, who were seated about 100 metres from the scene of the crime, did nothing.
The outrage over the incident took a turn for the worse when protesting students were lathi-charged by the police and beaten up brutally. Although, the Vice Chancellor of the institute is of the view that the lathi-charge was done only on the “criminal elements”, there is no denying that teachers and students came under this brutality too.
While the superior authorities are denying the lathi-charge on students, one of the teachers at Banaras Hindu University has come forward with her testament of the whole incident, narrating her own experience when the police entered the gates of the university.
As reported by Indian Express, Pratima Gond, Assistant Professor of Sociology was caught in the brutal act of the police when she went to save a girl student from being subjected to the beating.
According to the teacher, the police closed the gates of the Mahila Maha Vidyalaya, BHU, trapping her and the student, who she went to save, outside the gates. The police paid no heed to their cries while they kept trying to defend themselves.
While recalling the traumatic incident, Gond said,
“They struck blows on my head with two-three lathis; I also suffered injuries on my fingers. I am not a criminal, I am a teacher.
We were not inciting any violence. It is very unfortunate that a teacher and students were beaten and that too when not a single woman officer was present on the spot.”
The teacher got injured on her fingers and shoulder when she tried to defend herself against the blows raining on her. She has also said that on explaining that she was a teacher, the police exclaimed “Toh kya hua?” and continued hitting them. The teacher also said that the trauma of the fateful day still haunts her.
The recent events at BHU including the discovery of a sex offender as a faculty member has unearthed some grimy details about the conduct of the institution. Amidst all this, we hope that people do not lose focus of the real issue.