Karachi University harassment incident highly deplorable: IBA

KARACHI: The Institute of Business Administration (IBA) on Thursday termed the harassment incident within the premises of Karachi University as “highly deplorable”.

“The recent incident of harassment involving the students of the IBA Karachi inside the KU premises is highly deplorable,” a statement issued by the IBA Communication Department read.

Read more: Six arrested for harassing students in Karachi University's campus

A student of the institute, Syed Saheer Ali, had shared shocking details on his social media about the incident in which he and his female friend were harassed and abused by a group of 10 young men in the university while he was returning after dropping one of the female students at the IBA Girls Hostel.

The authorities took prompt action in this regard after the issue was highlighted on media and arrested six teenagers from the varsity premises who are said to be the children of staffers of the university.

The institute thanked the KU security staff and the law enforcement agencies for taking prompt action and stated that the IBA security personnel remained in coordination with the affected students and the concerned authorities.

The statement clarified that “usually the hostel residents are required to return to hostels by 10:30pm. However, extension is granted in case of family visits, academic events, gatherings etc. Even with these exceptions, the cut-off time for return is 11:30pm. Any one failing to report back till such time is fined and parents are notified of the violation.”

The ordeal

The IBA student, in his detailed social media post, alleged that 10 young men harassed him after they surrounded him on four motorcycles.

“It was about 11:30pm [when] I dropped her to the hostel and then me and my other female friend were headed towards Maskan,” he wrote and added that four motorcycles with a total of about 10 people on them suddenly appeared and surrounded his car, telling him while shouting to get off.

He said he started to tremble after that. “It was pitching dark in the KU, complete silence and we were stuck around the bushes. I tried my best to hold my nerves and pressed the accelerator to full as I tried to run away,” he wrote.

“As we ran and reached near IBA Boys Hostel, they came again and surrounded us forcing me to stop the car. That’s when they came to the car’s window banging and screaming Larki ko Bahar nikaal, Gaari Roukk, Bahar aa... [take the girl out, stop the car, get off].”

However, he managed to escape and informed the security guards on the Maskan gate of the varsity.

“These guys looked around the age of 15 to 25 years but the barbaric look in their eyes was beyond what words can explain. We have informed IBA's management about this incident and admin is coordinating with us.”