“Chup rehna ab band karo… Halla Bol! Halla Bol! (Do not stay silent any longer… raise your voice!). The call erupted on Friday as nearly 200 Delhi University (DU) students marched along the footpaths near the August Kranti Marg, demanding better safety measures for women and children in the Capital. The alleged gangrape of a 17-year-old girl inside a park in Delhi, and molestation of minors in Bihar’s Jamui and Samastipur are among the incidents that have sparked anger among students and raised concerns about women’s safety yet again.Students from prominent DU women’s colleges, including Lady Shri Ram College, Gargi College, Miranda House, and Kamala Nehru College were among the participants at Friday’s protest. This is the second such demonstration this week. The march started near Kamala Nehru College and headed to Gargi College. While dozens raised clenched fists in the air, some filmed the procession on their phones.“It’s 2026, and we are still fighting for the right to safety and education. Our classes get cancelled because of this constant disruption…” said a second-year Gargi student, pleading anonymity, fearing reprisal from the college administration.Pointing at her mobile phone, she said, “Even today, I am looking for someone to go back with me to Lajpat Nagar where I stay… I send my live location to at least 10 people just so someone knows where I am…We shouldn’t have to live like this.”The anxiety was palpable as students raised slogans. Holding a placard outside the campus gates, a first-year LSR student drew a contrast between “liberative and progressive space inside” and the situation outside. Students from prominent DU women’s colleges, including Lady Shri Ram College, Gargi College, Miranda House, and Kamala Nehru College were among the participants at Friday’s protest.“We can’t accept that constantly being scared is just ‘how life is’ in Delhi,” she said. “Why should anyone have to just get used to this kind of violence and treat it like normal? Inside college, you have all this freedom, but safety can’t just end the minute you walk out the front gate. If we can’t step outside without worrying about safety every time, then what is that freedom even for? The roads we walk down, the buses and autos we take, the streets around our PGs…that’s our everyday reality.”Aanya, an LSR graduate from 2021 present at the protest site, saw a ray of hope. “It is very nice to see that so many have joined today. Women haven’t gathered here just to fight an isolated incident. This is about a much larger cause. We are fighting for our basic right to occupy public spaces,” she said.Story continues below this adAlso Read | ‘Bhai, take out your gun’: How 3 men dragged Delhi teen aside, raped herAddressing the measures being enacted, LSR Students’ Union President Anusha Garg said, “Patrolling has been increased in areas including National Park and Vikram Vihar, Pink Squad patrolling has been strengthened, personnel at the Pink Booth and Back Gate are being monitored and briefed, work is being taken up to improve street lighting on the road behind College, and specific locations flagged by students have also been brought to the attention of the concerned authorities for action.”Following the march, students also gathered along Siri Fort Road to hold open consultations for drafting a charter of demands.Meanwhile, in a statement under a collective banner– “Hum Auratein Azaad Hai (‘We women are free’)” — the organisers said, “It did not happen to you, why do you care?… — It is a question we have been asked many times before, on buses and metros and inside our homes, whenever there is an incident of sexual violence, harassment or discrimination around us.”Also Read | Delhi teen gangrape: Accused harassed people in park earlier, say witnessesThey criticised “protectionist policies” taken by authorities, specifically hitting out at the Delhi Development Authority’s alleged move to bar women from public parks after sunset, alongside colleges enforcing stricter hostel and PG curfews that effectively cage women rather than tackling offenders, as per the statement.Story continues below this adDemanding systemic change, it said that women and gender minorities will only be safe when public presence is reclaimed through better street lighting, accessible bus and metro passes, and equal freedom from domestic burdens to occupy public space at any hour.