'Stop her or be prepared for arrest': DU college tells parents as student fight for women's safety
New Delhi, Mar 31: The parents of Shambhavi, a second-year student at DU's Indraprastha College for Women, on Friday asked her to leave the college premises and not take part in any kind of protest after the administration allegedly threatened them with action.
Shambhavi has been at the forefront of protests demanding the resignation of new principal Poonam Kumria, days after several female students were allegedly harassed by unidentified men during a fest at the college.
Earlier in the day, Shambhavi, who is also AISA's north zonal convenor, along with "around 200 students", marched in the college premises around 11, raising slogans such as "Poonam Kumria istifa do (Poonam Kumria resign)".
Within an hour, her parents in Bihar received a phone call allegedly from the IPCW admin department.
"Someone from the admin department of the college called my parents. They said your daughter has been doing so and so. Stop her or else FIR will be filed and she will be arrested," claimed Shambhavi, who prefers to use her first name.
"My worried parents called me up and asked me to stop the campaign and movement immediately. I assured them that there are 200 women with me on the campus. The phone call went around 12 pm and no direct warning was given to me. They called my parents directly. It happened around the time we staged a march on the college campus demanding administration accountability," said Shambhavi.
The college administration did not respond to the calls and texts from PTI for response.
In a statement, AISA condemned the college administration's action, terming it a dastardly move, and hailed Shambhavi for not "bowing down to administration."
"The IPCW administration, in a dastardly move, has sent disciplinary notice to AISA north zonal convenor and IPCW student Shambhavi Chaudhary," AISA said in a statement.
AISA's Delhi University unit secretary Anjali shared several videos and photos of Friday's march on the IPCW campus.
"Comrade Shambhavi is leading the protest, despite shameful attempts by the administration to silence her by sending a disciplinary notice to her parents! Salute to the spirit of students of IPCW for not bowing down to administration," she tweeted.
Holding placards and raising slogans against Kumria, the students including Shambhavi of the all-woman college held a march on campus amid slogans of "Poonam Kumria istifa do".
Meanwhile, Proctor Rajni Abbi said she visited the college and has asked for a report to see what action should be taken.
"The university has not taken any action so far. We do not have anybody's number. I don't know about college. We have asked for a report and we will see what can be done. I visited the college today and saw students protesting on the campus," she told PTI.
Around 200 students marched on the campus, demanding the safety of women in campus and the establishment of GSCASH (gender sensitization committee against sexual harassment). They also demanded action against the police personnel who allegedly harassed students detained following a protest on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, unidentified men allegedly trespassed, shouted slogans and harassed women students during the 'Shruti' festival at the college.
Following the incident, the police registered an FIR under IPC sections 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and and 188 (disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant) and arrested seven people.
The men who had trespassed were heard chanting "Miranda, IP dono hamara (Miranda House and Indraprastha College both are ours)" and "Miranda nahi chhoda to IP bhi nahi chhodenge (We didn't leave Miranda, we won't leave IP either)".
The police, on their part, said there was an excess crowd near the college gate during the fest.
Around 3 pm, some overzealous students started to enter the college in a hurry. In the process, there was heavy pressure on the gates and some students fell down, they said.
Here Comrade shambhavi is leading the protest, despite shameful attempts by the administration to silence her by sending disciplinary notice to her parents!
— Anjali (@anjali__27) March 31, 2023
Salute to the spirit of students of IPCW for not bowing down to sanghi adminstration! pic.twitter.com/wKl2CiOIwk
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Kerala to receive heavy rains; IMD issues red alert in some districts for May 19, 20
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday predicted extremely heavy rainfall in Kerala in the coming days and issued a red alert in some districts of the state for May 19 and 20.
The IMD issued the red alert in Pathanamthitta, Kottayam and Idukki districts of the state for May 19 and 20.
Additionally, an orange alert was issued for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, and Ernakulam for those two days.
The weather department further issued an orange alert in nine districts for May 21 and said some of them were likely to receive rains similar to that of a red alert.
It also predicted that thunderstorms with lightning, accompanied by gusty winds, were very likely to occur at one or two places in Kerala between May 19 and 22.
For Saturday, it issued an orange alert in Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Malappuram districts.
A red alert indicates heavy to extremely heavy rain of over 20 cm in 24 hours, while an orange alert means very heavy rain (6 cm to 20 cm). A yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 6 to 11 cm.
The IMD on Thursday had predicted very heavy rainfall in the state between May 18 and 20 due to the likely prevalence of strong westerly and south westerly winds in the region.
