New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Sucharita Sen on Tuesday filed a complaint with the Vasant Kunj police station with respect to the assault on university students and faculty by a "masked mob" on Sunday evening, which resulted in serious injuries to at least 34 students and 2 faculty members, including herself. Sen was hit on the head with stones allegedly pelted by the armed mob and has also accused them of vandalising her car, which was parked on Sabarmati Road.
The professor of Geography at the Centre for the Study of Regional Development in JNU's School of Social Sciences alleged that they first received reports of masked vandals attacking students at Periyar Hostel around 6:30 pm on Sunday, which is consistent with Delhi Police's FIR in the case, according to which some masked men had gathered at Periyar Hostel with sticks and iron rods around 5:30 pm.
Sen said that she and some other faculty members were at the Sabarmati Tea Point for a peaceful gathering to protest the recent spate of violence in the varsity when some students informed them of a mob of 70-100 assailants at Periyar. She said that when the teachers proceeded towards the Hostel, they saw the "masked mob" coming towards them, which then allegedly started pelting stones, resulting in injuries to Sen and other faculty members.
In fact, Sen alleges that when one of her colleagues had sent a message to the Chief Security Officer of the campus, he purportedly advised them to call the police and allegedly "chose not to act despite the fact that students and teachers were being attacked on campus, which was under his duties". She goes on to allege that the "masked mob" wreaked havoc inside the campus armed with lathis, sticks, rods, bricks, stones and other deadly weapons for a few hours. Sen's complaint was addressed to the SHO of
Vasant Kunj police station on Tuesday and the police are yet to register an FIR based on her complaint.