Protest after boy slaps female student

Student of mass com was locked out of class room by female classmate.

ISLAMABAD:

A male student at National University of Modern Languages (NUML) slapped one of his female classmates on the face on Tuesday, triggering protests across the university.

Sources said that Tausif Mukhtar, a final year student of the Mass Communications Department, was entering a classroom during recess hours, when one of his female classmates locked the classroom and prevented him from entering. When the boy forcefully opened the door, it hit the girl in her face, who in turn became furious and began hitting the boy with one of her shoes. The boy retaliated by slapping her on the face three times. The assault ended when students standing nearby intervened.

As the news spread across the campus, students gathered at the scene and started protesting against the boy’s actions. They approached the NUML director-general and demanded that he takes serious action against Mukhtar.

Students of the Mass Communications Department announced a boycott of all classes on Wednesday and said they will continue protesting until action is taken. “If the university administration does not take action against the boy by Wednesday, we will decide how to deal with him ourselves,” said a student on the condition of anonymity.

NUML Spokesman Amir Saleem noted that no such issue has ever occurred at the university before.

He said that no action has been taken against the boy yet, however he assured that prompt action will be taken after conducting a complete inquiry.



Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st, 2011.