A 21-year-old JNU student has alleged that she was raped by two Afghan nationals, one of whom had met her at a pub in south Delhi and invited her to his house in Green Park, where the crime took place on January 12. The accused, Twaab Ahmed, alias Saleem, 27, and Sulaiman Ahmadi, 31, have been arrested, an officer said.

The woman, a second year BA (Honours) student at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said in her statement that she was raped after she had passed out at Saleem’s house.

The survivor had gone to a pub at Hauz Khas village with a female friend where she came across Twaab. He knew the friend and had met the survivor a few times earlier. Saleem approached the two and struck up a conversation. They had dinner after which he allegedly invited the two to his place for an after-party.

“Twaab’s friends Sulaiman, Siddhant and Pratyusha were present at his house. While her friend was dropped off at JNU later, the woman came back to Twaab’s house and they had drinks,” said a police officer.

In her complaint, the survivor said there was a bonfire party on the terrace after which her friend returned to JNU while she stayed back. She soon passed out as her drink was drugged. When the woman woke up, she realised Sulaiman was trying to force himself on her. The survivor said she later got to know that Saleem and Sulaiman had sexually assaulted her when she was not in her senses.

The survivor went back to her hostel in JNU and narrated the incident to her friends. They accompanied her to the Safdarjung police station and registered a complaint. She was taken to a hospital for medical examination.

An FIR was lodged following which the cops arrested the duo and sent them to Tihar jail in 14-day judicial custody. An officer said the two men were found to be holding cards purportedly issued by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Saleem worked as an event manager while Suleiman was unemployed. The two had come to Delhi on a foreign exchange programme.

Cops have found some discrepancies in their documents and have contacted the Afghan embassy in this regard. Saleem has been living in the city for 10 years while Suleiman had come two years ago, police said.

The cops said they would soon file a chargesheet in the case. The victim’s statement has been recorded before a magistrate and her friend has given her account to the police. The accused have denied they assaulted the woman. Saleem has claimed that he even came to the police station as soon as he was informed about the complaint.

(News has been sourced from: Source 1, Source 2)

This is not the first instance of sexual crimes against women, involving JNU students or professors. It raises questions about the kind of unhealthy campus environment which prevails in that campus which is dominated by radical leftist & Islamist elements.

In Aug 2016, Anmol Ratan, a JNU student and leader of radical leftist student body, All India Students Association (AISA), was caught for allegedly drugging and raping a 28-year old research scholar in his hostel room.

In December 2015, Dr. Arshad Alam, an assistant professor of Sociology in JNU who was AISA’s National Secretary during his activism days, was convicted of raping a foreign national (Bangladesh) who happened to be a research scholar under his guidance. As per JNU sources, Arshad Alam used to force sociology students to do term papers on how Hindu texts spread hatred, and is a serial offender who faced allegations of sexual abuse even in Jamia Millia Islamia. It is alleged that GSCASH, the Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment in JNU and JNUTA, the Teacher’s Association of JNU, tried their best to suppress the matter, but had to finally take action against the professor due to external pressure.

In May 2016, Udhip (23), a student of Centre for Historical Studies at JNU who allegedly raped his classmate, an African national, in his hostel was arrested.

In Feb 2015, an assistant professor at JNU filed a case of rape against a PhD scholar, whom she was guiding with his research, alleging that he raped her on the pretext of marriage.

In Nov 2014, A 25-year-old PhD student of JNU alleged that she was sexually assaulted several times inside the campus by a research scholar.

In 2013-14, the then JNUSU President Akbar Chowdhary and JNUSU Joint Secretary Sarfaraz Hamid were charged of Sexual Harassment for which they were forced to resign.

In June 2013, Delhi Police arrested a former JNU student for allegedly molesting and trying to rape another 21-year-old JNU student, inside the Narmada hostel in its campus.

In 2015, Minister of Human Resource Development Smriti Irani had informed the Lok Sabha that 25 cases of sexual harassment were reported from JNU in 2013-2014. This is the highest among 104 higher education institutions, according to University Grants Commission (UGC) data.

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