Two girls studying in Delhi University (DU) have allegedly been attacked by balloons that were filled with urine. Two separate complaints have been brought up in Delhi’s Amar Colony and Greater Kailash police stations respectively.
This comes after a similar incident with a Lady Shri Ram College student who was recently attacked with a semen-filled balloon in Amar Colony. The Delhi Commission of Women chief, Swati Maliwal, on the incident, said, “We are deeply horrified and disgusted with the incident, which in our opinion is one of the worst acts of misogyny and sexual violence intended to outrage the modesty of women and girls. Such incidents spoil the festive spirit of Holi.”
While the students have channelized their anger and disgust in the form of mass protests in the area of the very first incident, that is Amar Colony, the protests have now promulgated down south in Jesus and Mary College of DU, whose students protested outside the Delhi Police headquarters on Thursday.
The female students were joined by numerous Delhi University teachers in their protest, who denounced the lack of supervision and preventive measures to check such vulgar actions. They demanded stricter measures against the perpetrators.
Maya John, history teacher at JMC, condemning not only the attack but also how male students of college campuses take out processions surrounding girls hostels exclaimed how these acts, “practically put the girls under imprisonment“. She pressed on the need to sensitize members of the society during Holi meetings.
Another student said that the protests were intended to accentuate the need for equality between men and women.”When the girl was hit with urine-filled balloon, everybody in bus said ‘this happens’. Even a woman said ‘koi baat nahi beta’ (No problem)… We need to change this mentality…,” Yukti, a psychology student of JMC said.
A memorandum of demands was submitted to the Joint Commissioner of Police who, according to the teacher, has agreed to come and address the students.
Despite being considered an already unsafe place for women, Delhi has once again, in the past week, proved its inefficacy as far as protection of women’s modesty is concerned. The protests are only a testament to the psychological as well as physical embarrassment that women face through acts whose gravity the perpetrators, in most cases, fail to comprehend.
