Several women students from Delhi University staged a midnight march on Tuesday to protest the alleged gang-rape of a 16-year-old girl on a Greater Noida bus and to call for safer public spaces for women. The demonstration, held after dark, highlighted concerns over violence against women and the need for stronger protective measures on and off campus.
The march was organized by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) as part of its “Reclaim the Night” campaign. During the protest, SFI released a Women Students’ Manifesto ahead of the upcoming Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections, outlining a comprehensive agenda for gender equity and safety.
Key points of the manifesto include prioritizing women’s safety, representation and gender justice. It urges the DUSU to grant voting rights to all women’s colleges and to reserve fifty percent of union office‑bearer positions for women, aiming to ensure equitable participation in university governance.
The document also calls for safe and affordable women’s hostels without discriminatory curfews, functional Internal Complaints Committees with student representation, and accessible menstrual hygiene facilities across campuses. Additional demands encompass stronger emergency support systems, deployment of women police personnel on university grounds, and an end to moral policing and gender‑based harassment.
Further recommendations seek to prevent women students from dropping out by expanding scholarships and fellowships, introducing gender‑sensitive curricula, and conducting regular independent safety audits of Delhi University campuses. Protesters emphasized that safety measures should not restrict women’s freedom, rejecting any curfew that forces women to stay indoors after dark.
