New Delhi: More than 150 alumni of the South Asian University (SAU) has released a statement after reports of an attempted gang rape of a female student on varsity premises made headlines. The alumni has criticised the administration’s lack of cooperation, saying it raises “serious questions about the general safety and security of women and gender minorities within the campus”.

“In this dire situation, the students’ concerns about the callous attitude of the administration should be looked into and action should be taken against those individuals who engaged in victim blaming and caused inordinate delays which might have resulted in loss of crucial evidence,” read the statement signed by 155 former students.

The statement has also been sent to the President and other administrators.

Also read: SAU Attempted Gang-Rape Case: Protesting Students Point to ‘Larger Systemic Failure’

They have demanded the university administration to submit a detailed report on the incident in a time bound manner. They also demanded that the victim be adequately compensated “for trauma endured as a direct result of institutional failure to ensure her safety”, and any expenses related to medical help and psychological recovery must be borne by the administration.

“The University administration must not take any adversarial action against the students standing in solidarity with the survivor. At last, the University must willingly shed its regressive patriarchal structure and take active measures to ensure that the campus is thoroughly gender sensitised,” they underscored.

Below is the full statement by the SAU alumni:

ALUMNI STATEMENT ON THE INCIDENT OF ATTEMPTED GANG RAPE AT SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY

The recent news reports on South Asian University state that a female student was subjected to sexual violence on the night of 12th October 2025 between 08:00 pm to 10:30 pm. It is reported that the survivor, a female student who is a first year B.Tech student, has been subjected to an attempted gangrape in the university premises by four men. The survivor managed to escape her assailants and was found by her friends later that night after hours of searching. Prior to the horrific attack, morphed nude photographs of the survivor were sent to her from an unknown email id with the intention of blackmailing the survivor into going to a certain spot in the campus alone at night. While it is not proven yet if the two incidents are connected, this is a serious cyber offense in itself.  

As per the reports, the students called Anupama Arora, the Caretaker of the girls hostel to visit the survivor, but she stated she would only be available in morning hours. When Anupama visited the survivor in the morning of 13th October 2025, she shifted the blame to the survivor and denied that such an incident had taken place. She raised questions as to the survivor’s presence at the spot of the crime at such odd hours. She tried to pressurize the survivor to take a shower and change her clothes, which would have resulted in destruction of crucial evidence. Moreover, she stated that the matter is to be sorted with the help of the Public relations officer of the University, instead of reaching out to the Police or seeking Medical help, as the matter will garner Public attention. As per the reports, Dr. Rinku D. Gupta, the Warden of Girls hostel allegedly said that, “You wouldn’t be alive had you been subjected to such violence.” 

As per the reports, Dr. Priyadarshini, the campus doctor, pointed out that the survivor must be taken to hospital immediately, however, no such efforts were made by the caretaker or any other members of the university. As per the news reports, due to University's open hostility and unwillingness to cooperate, a student placed a PCR Call and the Police arrived at the Campus. In the aftermath of which she was taken to the hospital for a medical examination and an FIR was registered. However, since the FIR was registered in the early hours of 14th October 2025 after considerable delays, the police still haven't made any arrests and the identity of the assailants remain unknown.

The above incidents raise serious questions about the general safety and security of women and gender minorities within the campus. In this dire situation, the students’ concerns about the callous attitude of the administration should be looked into and action should be taken against those individuals who engaged in victim blaming and caused inordinate delays which might have resulted in loss of crucial evidence. The Dean of Students, Mr. Navneet Jha, the Proctor, Mr. Kapil Sharma and the security officer should also be held responsible for the dereliction of duty on their part. There must be adequate student representation in the committee inquiring into the matter. 

We demand that the University administration submit a detailed report on the incident in a timebound manner. The victim should be adequately compensated for trauma endured as a direct result of institutional failure to ensure her safety. The University administration must bear the expenses of the required medical help for physical recovery as well as the trauma informed care for her psychological well-being. The University administration must not take any adversarial action against the students standing in solidarity with the survivor. At last, the University must willingly shed its regressive patriarchal structure and take active measures to ensure that the campus is thoroughly gender sensitised.

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