Condemn the Misogynistic Abuse and Rape Threats Against Women Protesting the Paper Leak Scam

Students' Federation of India unequivocally condemns the vile misogynistic abuse, rape threats, and targeted online harassment directed at women who have been at the forefront of the countrywide protests against the paper leak scam. As thousands of students took to the streets demanding accountability from a government that has repeatedly failed India's youth, women protesters have been subjected to an orchestrated campaign of intimidation by supporters of the BJP-RSS.

Social media platforms have been flooded with degrading comments branding women protesters as "sex workers", hurling obscene abuse, issuing graphic rape threats, and calling for physical violence against those who dared to raise their voices. This is not mere trolling but a deliberate attempt to silence women through patriarchal violence and fear.

SFI Delhi State Committee member and JNUSU Vice President, Comrade Gopika, has been among those specifically targeted. Alongside, the 15 year old Ruchika Singh, Shradha Singh, and Ruchika Chaula are among the people who were targeted with death and rape threats by the criminals of the RSS-BJP. The appalling threats invoking the brutal gang rape and murder of "Nirbhaya" expose the fascistic mindset of those who believe women who dissent deserve sexual violence. Such threats are criminal acts and must be treated as such.

The pattern is unmistakable. Whenever women, gender minorities, and young people challenge the government's failures, they are met not with democratic engagement but with misogyny, intimidation, and threats. The violence directed at women protesters is an attack on the democratic right to dissent itself.

Adding insult to injury, the Prime Minister chose to respond not by condemning those issuing rape threats, but by releasing a social media reel lecturing women protesters on how "civilized" women should conduct themselves and magnanimously claiming to "forgive" them. These remarks are deeply misogynistic and profoundly insulting. Women exercising their constitutional right to protest do not require the Prime Minister's forgiveness. It is the people of this country who deserve an apology for a government that has normalised exam scams, failed to protect students, and remained silent while its supporters unleash gendered hate and violence against women.

The SFI stands in unwavering solidarity with every woman and gender minority facing this campaign of abuse. We refuse to allow rape threats and patriarchal intimidation to become tools for suppressing democratic resistance.

Released by
Adarsh M. Saji (President, SFI)
Srijan Bhattacharyya (General Secretary, SFI)