Chennai, July 30 (BPNS)
The Indian Institute of Technology –Madras has commenced an internal investigation into an alleged sexual assault of a student on the campus. According to a student who filed the complaint, her friend was assaulted in the early hours of Monday, July 25, and a man in his early twenties had pounced on her friend while she was cycling to her hostel room through a dimly lit area inside the campus.
The IIT –Madras commenced an internal inquiry on the reported incident but did not lodge a police complaint as the student was not very keen to file a police complaint.
The premier institute in a statement said, “ An incident that happened a few days back was reported by the survivor student’s friend to the institute. The institute immediately began an investigation and screened camera footage and shared pictures of almost 300 people, who had matched the description of the student.”
The institute in the statement also said that the woman student was not able identify anyone and an identification parade of 35 contract labourers who were on duty that night was also conducted. The IIT-M in its statement also said that the gates of the institute are secured properly and a security guard is posted every 100m.
The survivor’s friend in her complaint lodged with the institute said, “ After a long terrifying struggle, she managed to fight him off and ran back on foot, injured and mentally scarred with a broken cycle and it was luck that saved my friend.”
The IIT –M officials said that the institute was working on a mobile application to help students inform the security guards of their location during emergencies.
A senior official with the institute told BPNS that the probe and internal investigation would continue until the culprit is traced.
