IPCW row: DU committee misses deadline for first report, yet to meet students

New Delhi: A Delhi University committee formed to probe the harassment incident at the all-women IP College has missed the deadline to submit its first report and is even yet to meet the students who have been seeking action against the perpetrators.

The committee was constituted on April 3 and was supposed to submit its first report within a week.

Headed by Prakash Singh, the South Campus director, the committee since its constitution has only held one meeting, and according to a university official it will meet on Thursday to finalise the guidelines.

The members of the committee are yet to hold meetings with or speak to students who have held a series of protests demanding action against the perpetrators and accountability on the part of the college.

A university official confirmed that no report has been submitted so far.

"We held a meeting last week. We are holding the second meeting tomorrow. We have held talks with the principal (Poonam Kumria) warden, and the union advisor. We are preparing a set of guidelines to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in the future," said the official, who is also part of the committee.

Asked whether a report has been submitted, the official said: "No, we couldn't submit the report because there were too many holidays last week." The students have alleged that some men climbed the college campus boundary and harassed several women students during a cultural festival on March 28.

Following their protests, the DU formed a committee to look into "the grievances raised by the students" and asked the panel to submit its report in a week.

A student who was part of the protests in the college demanding the resignation of the principal said on Wednesday they have not been approached by anyone from the university.

"Our college and principal have held the meetings. But the meetings are yet to be organised by the university officials. We are still waiting to hear from the officials," said Shambhavi, second-year student.

The principal of the college did not respond to texts and calls from PTI seeking a response.

Different student outfits held protests outside and inside IP College over the incident. They demanded that the college convene a general body meeting on the issue.

Members of the committee are Proctor Rajni Abbi, Dean of Students Welfare Pankaj Arora, Joint Proctor Geeta Sahare and Professor, Department of Hindi, Manju Mukul Kumble.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) in its report on Wednesday on an incident of harassment at the educational institution said a lack of coordination between police and the Indraprastha College over the organisation of a fest and inadequate security arrangements led to protest.

The DCW has put forward its interim recommendations to the city police, the IP College For Women and the Delhi University (DU) in the matter.

Police registered an FIR in the matter on the day of the incident itself and the college forwarded 231 complaints and representations to them on April 4.

During its interaction with the survivors, the panel learnt that four people were injured and a girl even sustained a fracture due to the harrowing incident. Similar incidents have occurred in the past in other DU colleges, such as Miranda House and Gargi College, the DCW pointed out.