Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday backed the thousands of Delhi University students who marched through North Campus demanding greater safety for women, following the alleged gangrape of a 17-year-old girl at Aastha Kunj Park. Reacting to the student protests, Gandhi said women should not be asked to restrict their freedom because of crimes committed against them and called for stronger action against perpetrators.
“Stop punishing women for the crimes committed against them. Across our country, women are afraid to walk the streets, afraid of being harassed, afraid of being raped. And the government’s answer: stay at home. This is patriarchy at work: a system that blames the victim and shields the criminal. It is time to smash it,” he said.
“Thousands of students and young people are on the streets demanding safety for women. I urge even more young women, especially GenZ across India to come out in stronger numbers. This government is deaf to your pain and will only listen when it’s under pressure,” he added, extending his support to the cause.
DU’s big show of anger: 3,000 march as rape cases rock Delhi
Thousands of students marched through Delhi Universit’s North Campus on Monday in what appeared to be one of the largest student-led mobilisations on women’s safety seen in the university in recent years.
Organisers and participants said the protest drew students from multiple DU colleges, with the march converging near the Faculty of Arts before moving through the campus. Reports put the turnout at around 3,000 students, significantly larger than the protests held earlier in the week.
The protest came a week after the September 21 Aastha Kunj incident, in which Delhi Police said three men allegedly posed as policemen before sexually assaulting the teenager. The case has triggered outrage across the capital and renewed concerns about women’s safety in public spaces.