Delhi Police arrests 10 people in connection with alleged molestation of women in Gargi College

At least ten people were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the alleged molestation of students during a cultural festival at the all-women Gargi College of the Delhi University in the national capital last week, said the Delhi Police.

Over 11 police teams are dedicatedly working on all aspects of the case. These teams are also looking at the technical details available and visiting various sites in NCR to identify the suspects and investigate the case, they said.

Many people are being questioned and multiple suspects have been identified, the police added. The college authorities have also been spoken to by the investigating teams.

The Delhi Police on February 10 registered a case in connection with the incident. According to Atul Kumar Thakur, DCP (south), a case has been registered under IPC sections 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

A petition was filed on Wednesday in the Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe monitored by it into the incident. The PIL, filed by ML Sharma, has sought a direction to the probe agency to seize all video recordings and footage from CCTV cameras around the college campus. It also sought the arrest of the people behind the "planned criminal conspiracy".

The petition alleged that it was a planned political and criminal conspiracy hatched in the backdrop of the Delhi elections and since February 6, no action has been taken against the accused. "The state government took no action. It is a clear criminal conspiracy hatched by the political party to deploy accused persons to provoke the Delhi public for effecting voting in their favour. Despite the presence of Delhi Police ... On February 6, neither principal nor other state authorities tried to stop and arrest the accused persons," the PIL stated.

Besides the security arranged for by the college, the area had Delhi Police and paramilitary force personnel who were stationed in the area for the assembly polls.

A group of men had broken into the institute during the 'Riverie' fest on February 6 and allegedly groped, harassed and molested the attendees. The incident came to light after some students took to Instagram to narrate their unpleasant experiences during the fest on February 6 and alleged that security personnel did nothing to control the unruly groups.