On the night of 12 October 2025, a first-year student at South Asian University (SAU) in the Maidan Garhi area of Delhi reported that she was sexually assaulted by a group of four men on campus.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) filed at the Maidan Garhi police station, the victim’s clothing was forcibly torn, and a pill was allegedly forced into her mouth. The incident reportedly occurred between 8:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. while the student was sitting near the Convocation Hall, a relatively isolated area close to the campus Mess. Earlier in the day, she had been harassed and stalked by another male student, who threatened to circulate morphed images of her unless she complied with his demands to meet him outside the university gate.
“The University Complaints Committee (UCC) does not usually address complaints related to cybercrime,” remarked Yashada, a postgraduate student and Mess Secretary at SAU. She previously faced aggression for serving non-vegetarian food during Mahashivratri. Yashada added that there had been a prior incident where a master’s student harassed bachelor’s students through social media, yet the UCC failed to act despite being informed.
At the time of the assault, the victim was disturbed and walking in the area where the incident occurred. Per the FIR, while seated on the stairs, a campus security guard approached her, questioning her presence there. Following his inquiry, a middle-aged man joined them, and eventually, two more men arrived. When the victim attempted to leave, she was dragged away, and the assault ensued. The assailants fled when someone entered from the mess room. A friend who had been searching for her later found her and took her to a nearby room, informing hostel wardens of the situation.
Despite notifying the hostel caretakers, Rinku Gupta and Anupama Arora, on the night of the incident, students reported that the staff attempted to downplay the situation. Arora allegedly advised the victim to “take a bath and sleep,” later mischaracterizing the incident to the victim’s family as a “panic attack.”
In an audio recording shared by Apoorva Yarabahally on X, Arora claimed the survivor faced “mental stress due to family issues and the engineering coaching,” and questioned whether the damage to her clothing was truly a result of the assault. She also suggested that individuals do not typically visit that part of the campus alone at night.
Despite the authorities being informed immediately, the university did not contact the police until a student made a call approximately sixteen hours later on 13 October. The FIR was filed the following day at 3:30 p.m., a full 24 hours post-incident. There were also delays in recording the Medico-Legal Case, which was conducted late on 13 October. A student, wishing to remain anonymous, claimed that the administration’s failure to alert the police indicated complicity.
On 13 October, a group of students gathered outside the administration office to seek accountability for the procedural lapses. Protests continued on 14 October, prompting some students to meet with university administration. Emeritus Professor S.P. Aggarwal stated in a media interview that the university condemns the act and has formed an inquiry committee to investigate. In an official statement released on 14 October, the university expressed its solidarity with victims of sexual violence and reaffirmed its commitment to a zero-tolerance policy regarding such incidents.
The protests by students are ongoing, demanding that the university be held accountable for its systemic failures related to this case.
Tags: sexual assault, university campus, police intimation, panic attack, student safety
Hashtags: #SAU #student #alleges #sexual #assault #campus #University #delayed #police #intimation #staff #dismissed #panic #attack
