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professor teaching at Delhi University Faculty of Law entered Umang Bhawan at about 10:30 am on Monday thinking it would be an ordinary day.
To their surprise, it was not. CCTV footage proves that the PhD scholar who was waiting for the professor in Umang Bhawan attacked him physically as soon as he entered the place.
Taking the matter seriously, Delhi University has suspended the Faculty of Law PhD scholar and has stopped him from entering into the university premises.
The individual charged has been found out to be Shubham Singh, who is a PhD student at the law faculty, enrolled in the university for the academic year 2024-25.
As per reports coming from the Office of the Proctor of the University, the suspension order was passed immediately following the viewing of the CCTV footage of the crime.
The order of ban from campus premises was passed on the very day when the crime was committed.
It has become especially disturbing to learn about the specific facts that have come out — there was no sudden burst in the heat of the moment.
As the Democratic Teachers' Front (DTF) put it: “the student waited for the teacher to come into the building and began beating him up.”
The fact that the scholar had been waiting and not acting on the spur of the moment is what has worried teachers' associations most of all.
DTF did not show any restraint in its reaction to the decision taken by the university.
"In relation to the assault committed by a research scholar on a professor at the Faculty of Law on August 17, 2026, it is an extremely alarming case that requires immediate attention," stated the DTF.
It further commented, "But then, only suspension is not enough to address this case."
Delhi University has now set up an inquiry committee, consisting of three members, to look into this matter and submit its report, which has been keenly observed by teachers' bodies to see whether this results in any action.
AADTA, yet another body of teachers, called for strict action from Delhi Police in this regard.
What adds weight to the severity of this matter is the fact that it is not an isolated case.
This was explained in detail by DTF in the following statement: "Today’s attack is no isolated instance. The safety and dignity of teachers on campus is continuously violated."
They gave another example where some of the lecturers from the law faculty were threatened with verbal abuse from one of their students – this means that the situation within the law faculty had been brewing for some time prior to this latest attack.
Here comes another tale not just of a single professor but of a PhD scholar.
Last year, DUSU joint secretary Deepika Jha slapped a professor at Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar College in an incident that made headlines due to its recording in a CCTV camera.
The earlier incident took place in October 2025 where Jha along with around 50 other students, among whom was DUSU President, confronted the Professor Sujit Kumar at his office where Jha slaps Kumar while police personnel remained unconcerned.
Kumar was the convener of the disciplinary committee of the college who were investigating a case of assault on the campus involving ABVP members, same student organisation to which Jha belonged. Later he stated that he resigned after the incident.
As a result, Jha was banned from the campus for two months yet allowed to attend the classes and examinations.
Collectively, the two incidents – one happening this week and the other just ten months ago – have caused the teaching faculty of Delhi University to make an even bigger hue and cry.
In both the incidents, the DTF has categorized them under the same issue: a pattern in which increasing conflicts between students and faculty members are taking place and they are ending up in physical violence that is also being recorded on video, but the penalties imposed are not at all proportional to the acts committed.
All these incidents raise many questions about the security of the teaching faculty members and the capacity of the administration in providing them physical security.
It is now up to the three-member inquiry panel to find out precisely what took place and recommend further action in addition to the immediate suspension.
Given the way in which the Deepika Jha case was handled last year, where there was a case involving physical assault on CCTV footage but still led to merely a two-month suspension that would not affect her class attendance and exam taking, teachers' associations will definitely try to make sure that this case does not follow suit.
Involvement of Delhi Police, as called for by AADTA, might also add a criminal angle to this university disciplinary issue.
