Gurmehar Kaur row: FIR lodged; 2 ABVP activists arrested for assault on JNU students

A case of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation was on Tuesday registered against unknown persons in connection with the alleged rape threats to an army martyr’s daughter, at the centre of a students’ unrest.

In another case, two alleged ABVP activists were arrested for attacking two AISA supporters on the North Campus during a protest march in New Delhi.

A case in connection with LSR student Gurmehar Kaur’s complaint to Delhi Commission for Women was registered on Tuesday.

The FIR was registered under sections 354 A (Sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) of IPC and 67 of the IT Act against unknown persons, said Dependra Pathak, Special Commissioner of Police (Southwest) and Delhi Police spokesperson.

He said 20-year-old Gurmehar hasn’t joined the investigation yet.

The probe team is working on the available evidence, he said.

“We are in the process of identifying the social media accounts from where those messages (of the rape threats) were generated and then the due process of getting details from these sites will be initiated,” said the officer.

Senior officers said Gurmehar had submitted a screen shot of the message she received on Facebook from a man who allegedly threatened her with “gangrape” and “making porn videos of her”.

Police is likely to seek details of the account from which the message was sent.

“Yesterday, DCW forwarded a complaint of a DU student reg. online abuse. Immediately, area DCP spoke to her & provided necessary security. Her complaint was examined by Cyber Cell & an FIR No.32/17, u/s 354-A, 506 IPC & 67 IT Act, PS EOW has been registered & investigation taken up,” Delhi Police said in a series of tweets.

The DU student was assured that she would be provided security by Delhi Police and men in plainclothes will be patrolling the area where she stays.

However, the student left for Jalandhar on Tuesday to be with her family, following which the Delhi Police has asked its counterpart there to provide security to her.

Gurmehar, daughter of martyr Captain Mandeep Singh, had started the campaign “I am not afraid of ABVP” following violence at Ramjas college. The campaign went viral and received massive support from students across universities.

Meanwhile, two AISA activists from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)-- Raj Singh and Utkarsh Bhardwaj—alleged that they were strangulated by Prashant Mishra and his friends (allegedly from ABVP), who followed them while they were returning from Arts Faculty around 5.20 PM, police said.

Utkarsh and Raj claimed that they were attacked by seven to eight persons near Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College and strangulated with belts.

Prashant and Vinayak Sharma were arrested from the spot, police said.

They have been booked under IPC sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), said a senior police officer.

Police are trying to identify the other students who were involved in the alleged attack on the AISA activists.

“There are adequate security arrangements in place. The nearby areas, where students and teachers reside, also have security in place. Further, 24X7 security arrangement will be ensured for normalcy in academic activities on the North Campus,” Pathak said.

Ramjas college had last week witnessed large-scale violence between members of the AISA and the ABVP. The genesis of the clash was an invite to JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid to address a seminar on ‘Culture of Protests’, which was withdrawn by the college authorities following opposition by ABVP.