SAR’s Academic Freedom Monitoring Project investigates and reports attacks on higher education with the aim of raising awareness, generating advocacy, and increasing protection for scholars, students, and academic communities. Starting July 1, 2026, SAR no longer publishes reports for the incidents that it records. SAR continues to monitor and record incidents that will be used in the annual Free to Think report. This page provides a record of incidents reported up to that date. Learn more about the Academic Freedom Monitoring Project.

Date of Incident: July 19, 2025

Attack Types: Killings, Violence, Disappearances | Imprisonment

Institution(s):Delhi University

Region & Country:Southern Asia | India

New or Ongoing:New Incident

On July 19, 2025, the Delhi Police Special Cell abducted Rudra, a philosophy student at Delhi University and an activist with Nazariya magazine.

Rudra was traveling from Kolkata to New Delhi aboard the Howrah–New Delhi Duronto Express. He disappeared after his arrival, and more than twelve hours passed without any information regarding his whereabouts. Rudra was eventually released on July 21.

Rudra’s disappearance occurred amid an escalating series of detentions and alleged torture involving seven other activists held by the Delhi Police Special Cell. The student organization Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch (bsCEM) released a statement linking Rudra’s disappearance to the July 9 abduction of three of its own leaders, who were confirmed to be in police custody after being missing for several days (see report).

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the temporary disappearance and detention of a student in apparent retaliation for their exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association — conduct that is expressly protected by international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which India is a party. State authorities have a responsibility to refrain from arrests and detentions that restrict or retaliate against student expression. In addition to the harm to the immediate victim, detentions that target student expression undermine academic freedom and democratic society generally.

Sources:
*SAR identified this incident in data made publicly available by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
https://www.counterview.net/2025/07/wave-of-disappearances-sparks-human.html
https://maktoobmedia.com/india/delhi-another-student-activist-missing-after-six-others-released-from-custody-tortured-by-police/
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMSCl6XMnv6/
https://muslimmirror.com/illegal-abductions-humiliation-and-brutal-assault-delhi-police-accused-of-torturing-student-activists-in-custody/
https://icspwindia.site/2025/07/22/casr-strongly-condemns-the-abduction-and-brutal-torture-of-students-and-other-activists-by-delhi-police-special-cell/