Students' group claims 15 activists detained during protest outside IP College, police deny charge

NEW DELHI: A students' group on Monday claimed that around of its 15 activists were detained from outside the Indraprastha College for Women, where they had gathered to stage a protest against the alleged harassment of girl students during a fest last week. Delhi Police, however, has denied the charge.

Led by the All India Students' Association (AISA), the agitators had gathered to protest against the alleged incident and the administration's response to it. Police personnel were deployed in large numbers while the gates of the college were barricaded. "About 15 AISA activists have been detained from the college gate and are being taken to Burari police station," the students' body's Delhi unit president Abhigyan alleged.

A senior police officer, however, denied the allegation. "Around 10-15 protesters had gathered outside the college gate. They were removed peacefully," he said. No one has been detained, the officer added. Students at the Indraprastha College for Women, a Delhi University affiliate, last week alleged that some men scaled the institute's boundary walls during a fest and "harassed several students".

Scores of students have held multiple demonstrations in the last few days, demanding the resignation of the college's newly-appointed principal over security lapses during the annual fest and its alleged authoritarian steps.