BHU suspends 13 students for 'indiscipline' amid 2023 protest against gang-rape

NEW DELHI: Thirteen Banaras Hindu University students have been suspended for 15 to 30 days for "indiscipline" and "disruption of the academic environment" during a protest against last year's gang-rape of a student on the IIT campus of the university. Those suspended by the university include members of various student organisations. In the wake of the November 1, 2023, incident, hundreds of BHU students gathered on the campus in protest and demanded the administration ban the entry of outsiders.

Anupam Kumar of Bhagat Singh Student Front said, "Our members were peacefully protesting at Lanka Gate of the university when they were attacked by ABVP (Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad) members that flared up the situation." The university administration subsequently registered a case against the protesting students and formed a standing committee to investigate the incident.

On Wednesday, the university's Assistant Press Relation Officer Chandra Shekhar said, "The suspension of the students for a period of 15 to 30 days was cleared on the basis of the findings of the standing committee. They will not be allowed to enter the university premises during the suspension period." The university administration cited "indiscipline" and "disruption of the academic environment" as reasons for the suspensions. Rajiv Nayan, the BHU unit president of another students' group, said that he and three other students of their group have been suspended.

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Student activists outraged

The suspensions have sparked outrage among student activists with many criticizing the administration for disproportionate punishment and a lack of support for survivors of sexual violence. The complainant in the gang rape case had alleged that she had gone out of her hostel with a friend on the night of November 1. They were near the Karman Baba temple when three men came on a motorcycle, forcibly took her to a corner and gagged her after separating her from her friend, she had alleged. The accused then allegedly stripped the woman, made a video of her and clicked photos.

They let her go after about 15 minutes and took her phone number, the complainant stated. Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered under IPC Section 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and under provisions of the Information Technology Act at Lanka police station. Subsequently, the charge of gang rape was added to the FIR, police said. Three people -- Kunal Pandey, Anand alias Abhishek Chauhan, and Saksham Patel -- were arrested in the case. Opposition parties targeted the Yogi Adityanath-led government over the law and order situation in the state and alleged that those arrested in the case have links with the ruling BJP.