JU temporarily debars 4 male students from entering campus for verbally abusing women

Kolkata, Nov 20 (PTI) Four male students of Jadavpur University have been debarred from entering the campus pending an inquiry into allegations that they verbally abused and made offensive comments towards several women students, a senior university official said on Thursday.

The four — two from chemical engineering, one from civil engineering and another from production engineering — allegedly passed abusive remarks at at least four to five women students on the evening of November 18 on the campus, the official said.

As an altercation broke out between the groups, one of the accused allegedly assaulted two of the girls and cast aspersions on their character, questioning why they were sitting outside, the official said, quoting the complaint lodged by the students.

As several other students - both boys and girls - confronted the four, they allegedly rained blows on other boys who had taken the side of the girls.

The alleged abuse and assault continued even as the girls walked towards Aurobindo Bhavan, the administrative building, the official said.

When university security personnel intervened and asked both sides to disperse, the four accused allegedly refused to comply and threatened the guards, though the guards managed to prevent the situation from escalating, he said.

Ten students — most of them women — submitted a written complaint on Wednesday accusing the four of verbal abuse, assault and intimidation. Following this, Vice Chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharya constituted a committee to probe the incident.

"Till the inquiry committee submits its report within a week, the four will not be allowed to enter the campus," the official said. PTI SUS MNB