The alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at Delhi’s Aastha Kunj Park near Kalkaji Mandir has sparked renewed concerns over women’s safety in public spaces, particularly among students of Lady Shri Ram College (LSR), located close to the park. The teenager had reportedly visited Kalkaji Mandir with a 17-year-old male friend on the evening of September 21 before entering the park. According to Delhi Police, three men allegedly posed as police personnel, separated the girl from her friend and took her to a secluded area, where she was allegedly sexually assaulted and raped.
All three accused — Asif, Hemant and Mukesh, have been arrested. Police said Asif allegedly opened fire at a police team during his apprehension on September 22, with one bullet hitting a head constable’s bulletproof jacket, after which police fired back and shot Asif in the right leg. The Delhi Commission for Women has also taken suo motu cognisance of the case and sought a report from police. The incident prompted LSR to temporarily move classes online, while students held a solidarity march on September 23 demanding safer surroundings.
Speaking exclusively to The Logical Indian, women’s rights activist, LSR alumna and Her Haq founder Aanya Wig said the concerns raised by students extend beyond this one incident, with inadequate lighting and security around areas students use outside the campus remaining longstanding concerns. Her Haq is an organisation working towards women’s rights and gender equality.
Kalkaji Case Deepens Safety Concerns
According to Delhi Police, the teenager and her male friend entered Aastha Kunj Park through Gate 7 at around 7.30 pm after visiting the temple. The three accused allegedly approached them while posing as policemen and used legal terminology to intimidate them before separating the girl from her friend. Police said Asif allegedly threatened the girl with a pistol and knife, while the three men allegedly took her to a secluded area of the park and sexually assaulted her.
Her friend subsequently made a PCR call at around 8.45 pm, following which police reached the spot and took the girl for a medical examination at AIIMS. An FIR was registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. Police teams then examined CCTV footage and used technical inputs and descriptions provided by the teenagers to trace the suspects.
On September 22, police said they intercepted Asif in Amar Colony and asked him to surrender. According to the police account, he fired three rounds, one of which struck Head Constable Rajesh’s bulletproof jacket. Rajesh then fired two rounds in response, hitting Asif in the right leg. A pistol was recovered from him and he was taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre.
Hemant and Mukesh were subsequently arrested, completing the arrests of all three accused. Police are continuing to investigate their individual roles, movements and whether they may have been involved in any previous incidents.
‘Safety, Not Restrictions’
The incident has had a direct impact on the LSR community. The college temporarily suspended physical classes amid safety concerns and resumed regular offline classes on September 24. On September 23, around 200 students from LSR and other institutions joined a solidarity march, raising concerns about women’s safety in and around the college.
Aanya, who attended the march, told The Logical Indian that these concerns are not new. “A couple of things that they’ve been demanding and I think we’ve been demanding since my time in college and the people before me, is basic safety infrastructure,” she said. Aanya described LSR as “one of the safest spaces” she had been part of, but said the situation changes once students leave the campus.
She pointed to the poorly lit areas around the back of the college and the route towards Amar Colony, which students living in PG accommodation may have to cross. “It is at the back gate of our college,” she said, adding that even during the solidarity march, when hundreds of students were present, the area remained visibly dim by around 7 pm.
‘We Cannot Cage Women’
Aanya said the answer to unsafe public spaces cannot be to limit women’s access to them. Referring to discussions around restricting access to public parks or asking women to avoid certain places, she said, “You have to stop caging in women. You have to stop telling them to live in a cage.” Instead, she argued, authorities need to focus on improving safety infrastructure and making streets and public spaces safer. “You need to work on the safety of the issue and not restrict movement,” she said.
On LSR’s temporary move to online classes, Aanya said the decision could be understandable if it helped students cope with fear and anxiety following the incident. However, she stressed that it cannot become the long-term answer. “Going online is not a solution,” she said. “It’s sad that after the pandemic, the first time that the college has gone online is because of the fear of safety of women.”
Beyond One Delhi Case
Aanya’s concerns come amid a series of recent incidents involving girls and women in public spaces. In Bihar’s Jamui, a Class 10 girl was allegedly harassed and molested by a group of youths on September 19 while she was returning from a local scenic spot with a male classmate. Videos of the incident were recorded and later circulated on social media; police arrested three suspects and formed an SIT to trace others identified in the footage. On September 24, another alleged harassment case emerged in Samastipur, where a video purportedly showing a girl being harassed in public surfaced online and four suspects were arrested. Police are investigating the incident.
For Aanya, such cases cannot simply be treated as isolated incidents that dominate headlines for a few days before attention moves elsewhere. “We are only able to see the cases that actually reach the media and are getting recorded and somebody posting them,” she said. “It is a lot worse because as women, we all go through so much every day.” She also criticised the victim-blaming that often follows such incidents, saying women and girls are questioned about why they were outside, their age or whether they should have been under parental supervision rather than the focus remaining on the alleged perpetrators.
From Outrage To Action
The solidarity march at LSR has brought these concerns into the open, but Aanya believes the conversation cannot end with marches or temporary measures. The challenge, she said, is to ensure that the concerns raised by students translate into changes they can actually see when they leave the college gates — better-lit routes, safer public spaces and stronger security.
Her comments also raise a larger question about how society responds after the immediate attention around a case fades. If women continue to modify their routines, avoid public spaces or stay indoors because they fear what might happen outside, then the responsibility for safety is effectively being placed back on them.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
The Kalkaji case has once again forced a difficult but necessary conversation about who gets to occupy public spaces freely and safely. Women cannot be expected to surrender mobility, education or everyday freedoms because certain spaces remain unsafe. Better lighting, functioning security infrastructure, effective policing and swift action against perpetrators are essential, but so is creating an environment where survivors are heard without being subjected to blame or moral judgement.
The solidarity shown by LSR students also demonstrates that safety concerns should not disappear once the immediate media attention fades. How can institutions, authorities and communities make public spaces genuinely safer without placing the burden of safety back on women?
Also Read: Kalkaji Gang-Rape Triggers LSR Students Protest Over Women’s Safety In Delhi
