Girls accuse SP leaders of harassment, write to UP CM

About 3,000 girls of three colleges in Aligarh sent postcards to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, demanding action against leaders of the local Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha, the SP’s student wing. The girls alleged the Chhatra Sabha leaders, who are students of Dharma Samaj Degree College, Aligarh, are “harassing” some girl students for the past month.

Some students also accused three student leaders of misbehaving with some women teachers. Following the action, senior superintendent of police (SSP) Aligarh Love Kumar was removed late on Friday night, and has been replaced by SSP Rajesh Pandey.

Students from Tika Ram Kanya Mahavidyalaya and Shri Varshney College also joined the protest and sent post cards to the CM.

About 10 days ago, Dharma Samaj Degree College suspended three students for a month for allegedly obstructing classes by damaging furniture and leading a mob of around 50 outsiders on the campus.

College principal Dr Anjana Bansal said she sent a report of the raucous to the district magistrate on Friday, but denied of lodging a police complaint.

A law student at Dharam Samaj Degree College, Tanu Saini said, “We are living in fear since the September-1 incident. Eve-teasing incidents are common, and some girls have even stopped coming to the college. A strict action should be taken against the guilty students, who belong to the ruling party.”

Aligarh district magistrate Rajmani Yadav, who has visited the campus, denying of any eve-teasing incident. She said if the collage lodges a complaint, we’ll take action.

The accused Chhatra Sabha leaders — state secretary Zia-ur-Rehman, district president Ranjeet Choudhury and city chief Mumtazim Kidwai — have denied the charges.

They alleged that some girl students have been misguided by students associated with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). “We, along with other students, entered classrooms as we wanted to shut down the campus in protest of ABVP members, who attacked the student union president Mumtazim Kidwai on August 31. The attack was a sequel to an FIR that Mr Kidwai lodged against one Sanjay Bajaj two months ago for making objectionable comments on Prophet Mohammed on social media. Mr Bajaj was later arrested,” said Zia-ur-Rehman.