DU student allegedly drugged, gang-raped for 3 days in Lucknow; police hunt for accused
A Delhi University undergraduate student was allegedly drugged and gang-raped for three days in Lucknow, police said on Sunday.
The University of Delhi witnessed chaotic scenes on Friday afternoon when a demonstration in favour of the now-stayed 2026 UGC Equity Regulations against caste discrimination turned into a sloganeering match.
Students belonging to rival groups blamed each other for assault and intimidation. However, it was the alleged mishandling of a woman journalist named Ruchi Tiwari that made headlines.
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What has Ruchi Tiwari alleged?
Tiwari has alleged that she was assaulted by a mob during the protest at the Delhi University’s North Campus yesterday. The journalist was reported as claiming that a mob of some 500 people targeted her after coming to know about her caste and identity.
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While several videos of the incident being circulated on social media showed a confrontation happening with Ruchi Tiwari and other people pushing and shoving each other and the former being cornered and assaulted, we were not able to establish the claim of a mob of 500 people targeting the lady.
The girl’s name is Ruchi Tiwari, who is being attacked mercilessly by UGC supporters.
Now imagine what might happen if UGC regulations are implemented in colleges.
The goal was always to destroy GCs. pic.twitter.com/AR3pvPh9CP
— Anuradha Tiwari (@talk2anuradha) February 13, 2026
Tiwari told news agency ANI, “Video is everywhere, people can judge by themselves as to who provoked whom… I am a journalist who was there to cover the protest. One of the media personnel said my name to draw my attention. I went up to them, they then asked my full name and caste.
“The entire crowd then came towards me and attacked me. This is clear in the video. About 500 people attacked me. They just have fake narrations and fake allegations. The girls around me whispered rape threats in my ears just because I am a Brahmin; ‘aaj tu chal, tera nanga parade niklega’, is what they said. The men around me were saying that they would teach me a lesson. The girls had held me by the arms and neck. This is an attempt to murder. I had fallen unconscious, but the Police did nothing.”
Youtuber Ruchi Tiwari attacking female student. It’s clearly evident with this video.
Her Account should be investigated, who paid her to go and attack students?
— Prashant Kanojia (@KanojiaPJ) February 14, 2026
Tiwari, who has now filed an FIR with the Delhi Police in connection with the alleged assault, said that members of the mob tried to tear her clothes and improperly touch her.
“They were goons, they cannot be students. There was mob lynching there, I escaped somehow is a big deal for me,” she claimed.
Who actually is Ruchi Tiwari?
Ruchi Tiwari, who identifies herself as a ground reporter and journalist, runs a YouTube channel named ‘Breaking Opinion’. She has posted 467 videos on her channel, which boasts of more than 59,000 subscribers.
Videos available on her YouTube channel show her covering a wide variety of issues, touching upon political topics, and religion and caste issues. She covers protests, public reactions, and social issues as well, often from a nationalist viewpoint.
Just a few days back, she was accused of deliberately provoking students and mocking Dalits. One of the YouTube Shorts on her channel is titled, “They want reservation but say don’t indulge in casteism’.
What have rival student groups said?
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has blamed Left-affiliated students for the alleged assault.
Calling it an attack on the media, ABVP Delhi state secretary Sarthak Sharma said the unfortunate and cowardly act reflects the true character of the Left-wing politics, which has been decisively rejected by DU students in the past.
“The history of Left-wing politics has been marked by the encouragement of violence. Frustrated by their declining relevance, these groups are resorting to new tactics to remain in the media spotlight. The cowardly act of manhandling a woman journalist reflects their true character.”
The ABVP called for strict action in the matter, stating that the Delhi Police and the university administration should take steps.
The Left-wing student group, the India Students’ Association (AISA), has, meanwhile, rejected the allegations and instead claimed that its members were attacked during the commotion.
AISA national general secretary Prasenjeet Kumar claimed that the chaos started when journalist Tiwari pushed another YouTuber from the Dalit community.
“Students had gathered in support of UGC, it was a peaceful programme. But amid all this, a YouTuber pushed another YouTuber who hails from the Bahujan community and attempted to disturb our programme. They started manhandling our people; in turn, our people tried to push them to the side. There has been no fight or manhandling as such,” Prasenjeet said.
The AISA leader said attempts are being made to create such an atmosphere, adding that such incidents happened in other universities as well when ABVP people attacked other students there.
Prasenjeet further accused the police of inaction and alleged deliberate attempts to provoke people into ending the demonstration.
“They can see that people across the country are standing in support of UGC regulations. Several YouTubers come to pro-UGC programmes and raise such slogans and push people. The right-wing YouTubers come with their agenda; this is an attempt to disturb our programme. ABVP is complicit in this. This was premeditated by the people of ABVP,” he stated.
What are the UGC Equity regulations in favour of which the protests were held?
The University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, were introduced to tackle caste-based discrimination, including against SCs, STs, and OBCs.
However, the Supreme Court last month stayed the 2026 Regulations after these were challenged by way of petitions. The court directed that the earlier 2012 Regulations will remain in force until further notice.
The 2026 Regulations were challenged in the apex court, alleging these were ‘unfair’ to the General category students. The court also found them to be prima facie vague and prone to misuse.
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