ABVP activist and Delhi University student Komal Sharma, who was named in the India Today sting as the masked woman seen during the violence at JNU on January 5, has moved the National Commission for Women denying the charge. In a complaint, Sharma named India Today and Aaj Tak, and claimed that they have “destroyed her reputation and entire career”.
“I hereby make it clear that I am not the lady in the said alleged video and some cooked-up story is planned against me in order to satisfy the ulterior motives best known to above said persons & the abovesaid channel (sic),” Komal has written in her complaint.
Komal has also alleged that she has been “deliberately and with some bad intention defamed” by the reports that showed she could be the masked woman.
The police had identified Komal, a student of Daulat Ram College, as the masked woman who was seen in the videos of violence shared on social media. She was wearing a checked shirt, a light blue scarf and was carrying a stick.
Komal has been summoned by the Delhi Police in connection with the violence at JNU on January 5 but has failed to appear before them. Her phone has been switched off since Saturday night.
Following Komal’s complaint, the NCW has asked the Delhi police to enquire into the allegations and file a status report with the Commission in seven days.
Thirty-five people, including students and faculty, were injured on January 5 when the masked mob entered the campus and attacked them with rods and sledgehammers.
In addition to Komal, Akshat Awasthi and Rohit Shah, both first-year students of JNU, had also featured in the India Today sting and were also summoned by the police, but have been absconding as well. When police had contacted Awasthi and Shah, they said they would join the probe but their phones were later switched off.
JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh, Sucheta Talukdar, Priya Ranjan, Dolan Samanta, Vhaskar Vijay Mech, Chunchun Kumar (a JNU alumni) and Pankaj Mishra have also been named as suspects in the violence. So far, the police have questioned Talukdar, Ranjan, Ghosh, Mishra and Mech in connection with the attack.