Campus Voices Rise as Student Activists Allege Police Excesses in Delhi Demonstrations

A handful of young women from the National Students’ Union of India walked into a meeting at 10 Janpath last week carrying stories that have since travelled far beyond Delhi. They had joined the ongoing demonstrations against the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and the Chief Election Commissioner. What they say happened after police detained them has stirred quiet unease in student circles.

The flash protest near Connaught Place on 13 October ended the way many recent ones have. Police moved in, loaded activists into buses and took them away. Among those detained were Athira Vijayan, a Delhi University student from Kerala, and Ritu Barala, who holds a national post in NSUI and hails from Rajasthan. Both later spoke of the treatment they received.

Athira told those present that she was taken to a basement, punched, and kicked in the lower abdomen and private parts. She said a blow to her ear has left her with hearing loss on one side. Ritu described being pulled by the hair, having her face stomped on, and receiving repeated baton blows on her legs. She claimed a woman constable asked her if she still wanted to be a leader. These are their versions of events. Delhi Police has not put out a detailed reply confirming or rejecting the specific claims of assault.

Rahul Gandhi sat with the group on 14 October. He later posted a video of the conversation and said the alleged actions had crossed shameful limits. He named the two women and noted that Delhi Police had not registered an FIR on the assault complaints. He said he spoke to the Kerala home minister and the Rajasthan Congress president. A zero FIR was filed in Thiruvananthapuram on Athira’s complaint.

Separately, Delhi Police registered a case against some NSUI women in connection with an incident inside one of the detention buses. Both sides continue to trade statements.

The larger protests have drawn student groups from different political streams. They want the Chief Election Commissioner removed and changes made to the voter list exercise, arguing that many genuine names have been struck off. Police have detained large numbers of protesters in the past weeks as the actions continued under tight restrictions.

Campus conversations have shifted a little after these accounts surfaced. Plenty of students still join political organisations or turn up at protests as part of learning how democracy works. Parents, though, tend to ask harder questions about physical safety once the activity moves off the college grounds. Teachers often find themselves walking a thin line between encouraging civic engagement and worrying about the young people under their charge.

The students involved say they are keeping records of what happened and will push for proper inquiries. Gandhi has urged them to hold on to videos and photographs. Whether those records lead to clearer answers is still open. For the moment the stories coming out of those buses have put the everyday risks faced by politically active students back into quiet focus on campuses across the country.