Visva Bharati case: Northeasterners march in Kolkata, UGC team visits varsity

Kolkata Hundreds of students from the northeastern states Saturday took out a rally here while a threemember UGC delegation visited the Visva Bharati University over the alleged sexual harassment of a woman student by three university studentsA firstyear fine arts student of the universitys Kala Bhavan was allegedly sexually assaulted by three students in August They allegedly recorded the assault on video and blackmailed herAccording to sources the highpowered delegation from the University Grants Commission met vice chancellor Sushanta Dattagupta chairperson of the universitys internal complaints committee Mausumi Bhattacharyya and S Sahana a faculty of the Kala BhavanIn Kolkata over 500 students from the northeast walked here in a show of support and solidarity for the female student from SikkimHolding aloft posters saying Respect Women and Where is Government Where is Justice participants braved the rain and rallied for more than three hours from College Square in the north to Esplanade in central Kolkata under the banner of the Northeast Forum KolkataIt is a peaceful march to show solidarity with the student We also want to highlight the lack of womens safety in general and also the discriminatory attitude of people towards students from the northeast Jason Lepcha general secretary of the Sikkim Students Association of Kolkata SSAK told IANSA Bengal court last week sent the three accused to three days police custody They were arrested Aug 30 and booked for criminal intimidation and outraging the modesty of a woman The accused have claimed innocenceOrganised by the SSAK the rally also witnessed the participation of local studentsA few members of the association visited the student and her parents at Visva Bharati earlier this weekAccording to members of the SSAK one of the primary demands include confiscation of the gadgetselectronic devices owned by the three accused and sending for a forensic evaluationIn addition they want a separate inquiry committee to be formed to determine the lapses on part of the varsity authorityThe committee should submit its report directly to the human resource development ministry president of India and the prime minister a member saidThis can happen to any woman not just somebody from the northeast and we want to highlight the necessity of safety measures in educational establishments SSAK member Rinchen Bhutia told IANSThe university founded by Asias first Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore in Bolpur town of Birbhum district suspended the three and lodged a police complaint following an internal probeThe female students father however accused a university official of offering him money to hush up the matter and not to approach policeBhattacharyya rubbished the allegations of offering clothes and money to the student to hush up the issueShe also denied allegations levelled against her by West Bengal Commission for Women chairperson Sunanda Mukherjee that she deliberately ignored requests to provide information about recent complaints of harassment of women at the central universityThe womens commission has already taken cognizance of the incident and said it will seek the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi