New Delhi: Violent protests erupted on the night between Saturday and Sunday at Lovely Professional University in Punjab after a piece of information circulated among students claiming that a student was raped and the management did not take action.
An FIR was registered under Section 63 (rape) at Satnampura Police Station. But the Punjab Police has so far not been able to make progress with the investigation.
The last decade has seen more than 10 cases of rape being reported from several universities and educational institutions, RG Kar being the most recent one.
1. RG Kar Medical College, Kolkata
In 2024, at RG Kar Medical College, Kolkata, a hospital volunteer worker raped and murdered a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor. The incident happened inside a seminar room inside the college during the wee hours. The case put a question mark on the safety of women, triggering protests across the nation. Doctors in West Bengal protested for more than a month. The investigation by Kolkata Police came under fire, and the case was later transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The accused was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in January 2025.
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2. South Calcutta Law College, Kolkata
The same year, a student was allegedly raped inside a South Calcutta Law College in Kolkata. The 24-year-old survivor was dragged and held hostage. A 650-page chargesheet was filed, and a medical examination confirmed rape. Manojit Mishra, the prime accused, an alumnus of the same college and ex-leader of the TMC youth wing, as well as co-accused Zaib Ahmed and Pramit Mukherjee, were all were arrested. Police reportedly found obscene videos of the survivor on the mobile phones of the other accused, who made videos through a hole in the wall.
3. Anna University, Chennai
In 2024, an intruder in Anna University, Chennai, raped a second-year engineering student. The university is situated in a high-security area near Raj Bhavan and IIT Madras. The survivor was talking to her boyfriend when a roadside eatery owner, Gnanasekaran, saw and filmed them. He threatened the couple with the footage, accosted the boyfriend, and later raped the girl. The accused reportedly took the girl’s number and told her to receive his calls and meet him whenever he would call.
Also read: 13 rape, sexual assault cases reported across Delhi-NCR since September began
4. Tufanganj College, Cooch Behar
In November 2021, a second-year student was allegedly raped inside the campus of Tufanganj College, Cooch Behar during class hours. The survivor’s complaint stated that Tapas Das sneaked into the college, took her inside the library, and raped her. The perpetrator fled the area when she started to bleed. Das was arrested, and an FIR was filed in the matter.
5. Malla Reddy Engineering College, Hyderabad
In 2019, an assistant professor allegedly raped a 19-year-old Dalit student inside a laboratory of Malla Reddy Engineering College, Hyderabad. The survivor was leaving after her classes when she received a message on WhatsApp from the accused professor, Mallikanti Venkataiah, asking her to meet him in the lab. Venkataiah, 33, forced himself on her. She tried to raise an alarm, but by that time, the campus was left empty. Venkataiah was arrested and charged with rape and sections under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
6. OP Jindal Global University, Sonepat
In 2015, an 18-year-old student alleged that she had been raped and blackmailed by seniors, who threatened to circulate her private photographs. The accused—Hardik Sikri, Karan Chabra, and Vikas Garg—were convicted by a trial court in 2017, with Sikri and Chabra sentenced to 20 years in prison and Garg to seven years. The Punjab and Haryana High Court subsequently suspended their sentences and granted them bail in September 2017. In its order, the court referred to the survivor’s alleged “promiscuous” attitude, “adventurism”, and “experimentation in sexual encounters”. The Supreme Court later stayed the suspension of the sentences.
In 2022, the Punjab and Haryana High Court upheld the 20-year sentences of Sikri and Chhabra but acquitted Garg, finding that the prosecution had failed to establish his involvement beyond reasonable doubt.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)