Secure women to the extent you secure us: Judges to cops

New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Wednesday urged the poli-ce to “secure each woman to the extent you secure us (judges)”, and said it was “willing to for sake” its own security for safety on university campuses.

The remarks by a bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Najmi Waziri came while it was hearing a plea initiated by it on an alleged assault on the dean and professors of the Delhi University’s Law Faculty by some students last year. The bench said “a sense of security” was missing on the DU campus, especially among women and students, and directed the police to ensure that people felt safe there.

It chastised the police for taking over one year to lodge FIRs in connection with the incidents of violence against the faculty and directed it to ensure there was no recurrence. The police should also ensure that its staff does not tell victims of such an incident to “live with it” or that “it happens”.

“We are not interested in how you do it. We are interested in the results, that women and others feel secure while moving around the campus. The Constitution empowers you (police) to ensure the safety of the people. We don’t need to tell you what the Constitution says. So just do it,” the bench said.

It went on to add, “Secure each woman to the extent that you secure us. We are willing to forsake our security. We want university campuses to be safe and secure.” The court told the police that certain crimes such as molestation and eve-teasing were “endemic”.