Vice-chancellor sets wheels in motion

At a ceremony to mourn Radhika Tanwar's killing, Prof Dinesh Singh promised better security and transportation for South Campus students in the coming days

Vice-chancellor sets wheels in motion

At a ceremony to mourn Radhika Tanwar's killing, Prof Dinesh Singh promised better security and transportation for South Campus students in the coming days

No classes were held in the morning college as all the students were on the road demanding justice for Radhika. The V-C promised to beef up security of south campus, patiently listening to all the complaints and suggestions given by the students and teachers.

Action awaited: Prof Dinesh Singh at a function to mourn the killing of
Radhika Tanwar. He said a bus service to the two colleges in the area
would be started soon. Pic/ Subhash Barolia

Dinesh Singh said that the proposal of running two special DTC buses on the two-and-a-half-km stretch where both RLA and Moti Lal Nehru College are located is just near implementation.

"We had planned to hire two DTC buses for plying on the stretch to do the rounds of the colleges from Ring Road. I am sure the bus service will begin within a month from now," Dinesh Singh said.

The V-C also promised better security arrangements including more street lights in the area. "While North Campus has PCR vans patrolling and a police station, South Campus has been neglected. We will set up a Women Police Cell for South Campus very soon. The incident was unnerving and disturbing. We cannot let more of it happen now," he added.

Singh as well as the teachers and administrative staff of the college visited Radhika's family. Surprisingly the Principal (Morning) Vijay K Sharma neither visited the Tanwars, nor was present in the college even after the murder happened on the pretext of illness.

Also, Sharma reportedly gave an irresponsible statement to the media that the incident happened outside the premises; therefore the college couldn't have done anything about it. "The murder is shocking, but as it had a specific purpose behind it and took place outside the college, it has got nothing to do with the college or the security in and around it," he said.u00a0u00a0

Many students and teachers in the college stood in groups on Wednesday condemning the indifference of the Principal and some of them even complained to the V-C.

"This is complete irresponsible behaviour on part of the college head. The college is unable to deal with the crisis, while the Principal is not present after a girl of his college has been murdered. He hasn't even applied for leave and no Acting Principal has been appointed," said Harish Dhawan, Prof. (Economics) RLA College.
A 'women only' meeting was also held to discuss security issues in commuting to the college. "The murder of Radhika Tanwar has just shocked us all. It is unbelievable the principal is completely indifferent on the matter. We have not even seen him express his grief on the issue," said Kavita Yadav, a third-year student of the college.

Numbers game
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Minister of State, Home Affairs, Mullappally Ramachandran has stated that it is not correct to say that Delhi has become the most unsafe place for women and crimes against women are increasing day by day.
The incidents of rape and molestation of women reported in Delhi have shown a decline over the last 5 years. For the purpose of crime comparison, the yardstick of crime per lakh of population is followed globally and it is seen that the incidents of rape per lakh of population in Delhi have come down from 3.82 in 2006 to 2.78 in 2010. Similarly, the cases of molestation of women per lakh of population have come down from 4.41 in 2006 to 3.30 in 2010.
According to Crime in India-2009, the latest publication of NCRB, Delhi's percentage share in national figure of crime was 2.2% in rape cases, 1.4% in molestation of women cases, 1.7% in dowry death cases and 6.4% in cases of kidnapping/ abduction of women.