MBA student from Jindal Global University alleges sexual assault in campus, moves SC demanding CBI probe

An MBA student of Jindal Global University, Hissar has approached the Supreme Court demanding a CBI investigation into her alleged rape by her seniors. She has asserted that the Police are trying to protect the accused at the behest of a Haryana MP.

It hence prays for a CBI inquiry “because of shoddy, reckless, biased and mala fide investigation conducted by police”.

According to a DNA report, the 21 year old student, who hails from Delhi, took admission in the university in August, 2013. She met the main accused, who befriended her in the same month. The friendship soon broke when Shikri allegedly forced her into sexual intercourse. In her complaint, the student told police that after the incident she was afraid to file a complaint because the accused had informed her that he was in possession of her nude photographs.

The accused then forced her to develop physical relations with two of his friends. The Petitioner reached a breaking point when two of the accused attempted to rape her again inside the campus recently. She then narrated her ordeal to the prevention of sexual harassment committee which has been set up by the University authorities as a measure to prevent such acts.

"The girl came to us in the morning and named five students in the complaint. The main accused was immediately brought in front of the administration and his mobile phone and laptop were confiscated to prevent further dissemination of the photographs. He was later expelled, and based on the complaint, four other students were suspended," said Dr YSR Murthy, Registrar OP Jindal University. The entire evidence was handed over to the investigating teams.

The girl, meanwhile, was counseled by university faculty who are still in touch with her. "This is an extremely unfortunate incident and we will ensure that the culprits will get punished. We have told the girl student that she can rejoin the university and continue with her education whenever she wants. She was traumatized but we are sure she will fight back," YSR Murthy added.

With regard to the police interference, the petition has claimed that the Police are demanding electronic evidence like laptops and mobile phones through which photographs were shared by the accused with other students through WhatsApp. An urgent hearing was hence demanded by the petitioner.

According to the Petition, even the Station House Officer was transferred under political pressure the very next day. It says, “The state authorities have behaved in an extremely causal, lackadaisical, unprofessional and biased manner leading to valuable evidence being possibly destroyed by the accused persons due to the inability of the prosecution to properly protect and preserve the incriminating evidence.”

"The state authorities have behaved in an extremely causal, lackadaisical, unprofessional and biased manner leading to valuable evidence being possibly destroyed by the accused persons due to the inability of the prosecution to properly protect and preserve the incriminating evidence," the petition adds.

A Bench comprising of Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Uday U. Lalit has agreed to hear the Petition on May 25. The Petition was mentioned by Senior Advocate Indira Jaising and Advocate Devdutt Kamath.

Jaising said before the Bench, "The petitioner has been blackmailed, criminally intimidated and horrific crimes of rape and unnatural sex committed upon her by the respondent who circulated and distributed nude pictures of the petitioner from his mobile phone through WhatsApp to students of the university… The petitioner is constrained to approach this court praying for transfer of investigation to CBI because of shoddy/reckless/biased/mala fide investigation conducted by police, which together have resulted in severe curtailment of her right to live with human dignity, free from any kind of exploitation.”