BHU’s First Woman Proctor Named In Student's Murder Plaint

Another controversy shrouds the Banaras Hindu University  as a suspended student was shot thrice right outside the gates of a hostel, inside the university campus, on Tuesday evening. The police have arrested four students of the university who were named in the FIR which also names the first woman chief proctor of the university Royona Singh.

The student who died in the violent attack has been identified as 23-year-old Gaurav Singh. He was suspended by the university for his alleged role in violence that singed the campus in 2017 over the issue of safety of students. It has been said that the student, who was doing his post-graduation from the university, was complicit in an act of burning down a bus.

Earlier in 2017, a female student of the university was allegedly molested in the campus in broad daylight and when she complained about the incident to her hostel warden, she victim-shamed her which led to massive protests by the university students creating an uproar in the entire country. The protests reached a point when the police charged baton on the students, leaving a number of students, including women, and two journalists injured.

The incident led to resignation by the then Chief Proctor of the university, Girish Chandra Tripathi. Singh allegedly walked out on moral grounds taking full responsibility for the violence that took place on the university campus during the protest. He resigned four hours after the National Human Rights Commission gave UP Police and BHU VC four weeks’ time to submit a report on the alleged molestation of a first-year student on campus. NHRC also asked the UP Police to submit a report on police action during the protest between Sept. 21 and 23, 2017.

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On Tuesday, around 6.30 in the evening, Singh was reportedly standing outside the gates of the Birla Hostel and chatting with friends when four people on two motorcycles shot at him, and escaped. The police found that a total of 10 shots were fired at Singh of which three hit him in the stomach. He was rushed immediately to the trauma centre inside the campus. He died at around 1.30 am. The attackers are yet to be identified. The four students are arrested by the police on the basis of the FIR filed by Singh’s father.

The police have arrested four students of the university who were named in the FIR, which also names the first woman chief proctor of the university Royona Singh.

"It seems there was some personal enmity that has led to the killing. We are investigating all angles," said Varanasi police chief Anand Kulkarni.

The FIR has named Chief Proctor Royona Singh, who became the first female Chief Proctor of the university in its 101-year-old history. Singh is a professor of anatomy at the university’s Institute of Medical Sciences. When she took over the position, she had planned to introduce a range of stringent measures to keep issues of eve-teasing, rowdyism or display of ostentatious wealth at BHU under check.

The university is shut today due to the tense atmosphere the attack has created, Police and paramilitary forces have been deployed inside the university campus, and the police has appealed to the students to maintain calm. A friend of Gaurav has alleged that the four students arrested were seen in the chief proctor's room a few days ago.

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