The women students of the Delhi University organised a protest against the sexist restrictions in the hostel timings for girls in the campus. Organised by the autonomous women students’ group, Pinjra Tod, the students marched around the North campus demanding their autonomy to end the curfew system and allowing 24-hour entry into the hostels. The female students also asked to abolish the concept of local guardians and instead keep a provision for an emergency local contact. According to media outlets, they threatened to stage a protest if their demands are not fulfilled within a week. Delhi University Law Entrance Exam 2018: Students Approach HC Over DU’s Mismanagement, Demands Re-examination. 

Initiated in 2015, Pinjra Tod is an independent body created by women students of various universities in the capital city and has been demanding equal rights for men and women in the Indian Institutes, especially campus hostel. The collective had submitted a memorandum to the Vice Chancellor of DU last week, and they complained that the university had not taken any action on their demands. On the evening of October 8, around 100 students with placards sat outside the Arts Faculty. As per TOI report, some students tried to scale the gates, but the security personnel stopped them. Delhi University Student Molested in Bus Lodges FIR, Uploads Video on Social Media. 

The protestors even attempted to break the locks of the university office and blocked Mall Road for about an hour. Police soon intervened and facilitated a discussion between the demonstrators and the Proctor, Deputy Proctor and Pro Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University. Apart from demanding 24-hour entry to women’s hostel, Pinjra Tod had asked for separate hostels for differently-abled students. The memorandum states that the collective had been raising the issues for the past three years, but DU had shown no sign of action. During the All-Nigh Protest, many students shared their experience of living in hostels.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 09, 2018 02:20 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).