The officers want to identify the dark, isolated and vulnerable stretches students cross after classes. (Image for representation)Around 7.15 pm, five-six Delhi Police officers, including the South Campus SHO, Inspector Narender and Additional Commissioner of Police Abhimanyu Poswal, set out from the Pink Booth police post at Delhi University’s South Campus.Their destination? The Motilal Nehru College (Evening), where they want to ask students a simple question: where do you feel unsafe?The officers want to identify the dark, isolated and vulnerable stretches students cross after classes – on their way to the Metro, their PGs and back home.The walk is part of police outreach following the gangrape of a 17-year-old girl in Southeast Delhi’s Aastha Kunj Park on September 21.To reach the college, the police team crosses the roughly 1-km stretch through South Campus, with old South Delhi housing complexes on one side and lush but isolated corners on the other.ALSO READ | CCTV cameras in only 2% of Delhi Development Authority parks, shows auditAt the college, the evening batch has just finished lectures. Students crowd around the gate, forming small groups before heading back to their PGs.An officer breaks away from the police party and approaches them. The students, startled by the sudden swarm of men in uniforms, instinctively step back.Story continues below this ad“No no, we just want to talk. We are here for you only,” the officer says. Members of the Disha Students’ Organization hold placards and raise slogans during a ‘Pinjratod’ and ‘Reclaim the Night’ march from Vijay Nagar to Delhi University, in New Delhi on Wednesday. (ANI Photo)Stepping forward, Poswal says, “We are interacting with all students about the issues they face in the area. We think the evening students would be better able to explain.”Reassured, the students, especially the girls, come up with a list.“The bus stand ahead is located at a very dark corner. Many men sit there after dark, and they are all drinking,” says a first-year student from Ranchi.Story continues below this adShe tells The Indian Express that during election time, men, including her seniors from the college, park their vehicles outside the college and come inside to drink.Another student points towards the skywalk near the South Campus Metro station.“People openly sit there and drink. It feels very unsafe to cross, even as a boy,” he says.Poswal agrees that dark spots in the area are a major problem. “We have already written to the authorities about installing lights. It would be sorted. Tell me if you are facing any other security issues,” he asks.Story continues below this adA girl living in a PG in Vasant Gaon says the route home is dark and littered with garbage. “Usually, some workers hang around there. My friend once had one of these men come close to her and whisper something in her ear. He then went away,” she says.ALSO READ | Sharp merger, outdated plan are choking Delhi’s new Barapullah flyoverAnother student recalls being stopped while riding her scooter towards Safdarjung.“A man stopped me to ask for directions. He then held on to my brakes and didn’t let me go. Since then, I have avoided that area.”A third-year student says Rao Tula Ram Road has become very unsafe. “The whole bus stand there has people sleeping on it and drinking. I have to cross over and go from the opposite side… I keep my phone inside my bag to protect it,” he says.Story continues below this adThe officers immediately talk among themselves about increasing patrolling around the college. “If you call 112, the response time would be even faster. We will deploy more people now,” a senior officer tells the students.The police party then moves ahead, with two students leading the officers through the dark patches along the way.“There are areas where the institutions here will also have to coordinate. The Indian Mountaineering Foundation has no lights, no guards at its entrance,” says an officer, pointing towards its campus and the dark stretch of bushes beyond its gates.By the time the police team completes its walk, they have stopped to question cab drivers sitting inside cars parked in some of the dark spots.Story continues below this adJoint Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Nupur Prasad told The Indian Express, “A security audit of these areas around campuses has already been conducted and the report has flagged issues of dark spots and a lack of CCTV cameras in the area. Street lights found to be dysfunctional have been fixed with the help of the area MLA.”