Chandigarh University students end protest; varsity suspends teaching till Sept 24

The university on Monday suspended two wardens for negligence and also declared "non-teaching days" till September 24.

Chandigarh University students end protest; varsity suspends teaching till Sept 24
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NH Web Desk

Students of Chandigarh University in Punjab's Mohali ended their protest in the early hours of Monday after the district administration and police assured them of a fair and transparent investigation into allegations that objectionable videos of several women students had been recorded.

The university on Monday suspended two wardens for negligence and also declared "non-teaching days" till September 24.

Further, it formed a joint committee comprising students and senior functionaries to address certain issues pertaining to hostel timings and other demands of the students, sources in the varsity said.

"They (students) ended their protest at around 1:30 am," Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police Vivek Sheel Soni said.

He told reporters that a special investigation team headed by a senior police officer will be formed to probe the case.

The university in a tweet said, "We are always with our students, be it their academic aspirations or their safety and well-being. We will leave no stone unturned to live it upto this commitment towards our students."


Protest had rocked the campus on Saturday night over allegations that objectionable videos of several women students were recorded by a hosteller. Some students claimed that the videos were even leaked.

Police, however, had said the woman student appeared to have shared a video of only herself with a 23-year-old man, stated to be her boyfriend, and no objectionable video of any other student was found.

She was arrested from Punjab itself while the man was held in Himachal Pradesh and handed over to the Punjab Police. Officials said the woman's mobile phone has been seized for forensic analysis and added that there was no suicide attempt by any student.

The university authorities had also rejected as "false and baseless" reports that claimed videos of several women students in the hostel were made and leaked on social media and that distraught students had attempted suicide.

The students, however, had accused the university authorities of "suppressing facts" and held a fresh protest on Sunday evening, which continued till late night.

An FIR under Section 354-C (voyeurism) of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act has been registered in the matter and further probe is on, police said.


Earlier on Sunday, while briefing reporters at the university campus, ADGP Deo, who is also holding the charge of women and child affairs, said many rumours about the case were circulating on various social media platforms.

"There are 4,000 girl students who live in the hostel. One has been arrested by police. Her phone has been taken into police possession and state cyber crime is conducting its analysis".

Deo said that three to four girl students spotted the accused student in the common washroom where she was taking some pictures with her phone "which they thought she was taking from underneath the bathroom door... They then reported the matter to the warden and subsequently the police were informed".

"I want to clarify after interaction with the group of girls they are happy that their concerns have been addressed. Their concern was if there is any video of other girls on her phone. Prima facie we did not come across any video of other girls," ADG DEO said.

In a statement, Chandigarh University Pro-Chancellor R.S. Bawa said, There are rumours that girls have committed suicide whereas the fact is that no girl has attempted any such step. No girl has been admitted to hospital in the incident.

Bawa said, There is another rumour which is circulating through media that an objectionable MMS has been found of different students. This is totally false and baseless."

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