A Delhi University student survived an acid attack on Sunday – by a stalker and two accomplices – near Lakshmibai College in northwest Delhi’s Ashok Vihar. Having suffered burns on her hands, the 20-year-old is expected to get discharged from the hospital soon. But, meanwhile, the case has left several students of the varsity questioning the safety of women on campus.
The Sunday morning incident has shaken almost every female student since the survivor’s statement mentions that she had tried to lodge a complain about the stalker but didn’t get a redressal. On Sunday night, Delhi University Students’ Union president Aryan Maan went to meet the acid attack survivor and revealed: “She (DU student) said three men came on a bike, took out a bottle of acid and tried to throw it at her. She tried to save herself by picking up her bag but the acid hit both her hands, and she suffered 5% burns. She also said that the culprit, the one who threw the acid, is Jitender… who is married and has a one-and-a-half-year-old child.”
However, on Monday, the wife of the accused posed the student’s father with charges of rape and abuse. In reply to this, Aryan told HT City: “We do not have the facts in hand at this point. But regardless of anything, an acid attack can never be the answer to anything as it as heinous a crime as any! We, at DUSU, have raised our concerns and are demanding certain measures to be brought into place. These include pink booths outside all girls colleges, which are actually functional. There must also be more CCTV cameras installed on the college premises. The Police must organise awareness camps that can make students aware of the helpline numbers and available resources if they need to reach out to someone in cases such as stalking. Just the last month we installed street lights in dark spots around the campus, but it’s very crucial for us to think of more measure for the safety of women.”