Students protest against the suspensions of the women
Two girl students, who had alleged that they had been ragged and threatened of rape by a senior, have been suspended by the Pondicherry University.
In their complaint to the university vice-chancellor, the girls had alleged that a senior student had "used vulgar words with sexual connotation" when they were walking towards their campus mess on September 21. The girls, both post-graduate students in their first year, had also alleged that the accused had threatened to rape them.
However, after an investigation, the university suspended the complainants as well as the accused along with six others.
"After the inquiry, we have concluded that it was not a case of ragging but a clash among students. We have found their complaint is fabricated and we have suspended them for indiscipline, chaos and bringing disrepute to college," the University's Public Relations Officer Professor Venkatakrishnan told NDTV, adding that the girls' complaint did not say anything about a threat to rape them.
One of the girl students has now begun a hunger strike to protest against the university's decision. "The accused student is harassing us more now. He has made his friend, reportedly a Dalit student, give a police complaint against us under the PCR act that we abused him using his caste name," she told NDTV.
A group of her friends have also joined them on a relay hunger strike to express solidarity.