A pervert’s brazen entry into the Maharani’s College hostel has terrified students and staff alike and brought the vulnerability of young women staying at these facilities into sharp focus. Although cops are working overtime to nab the accused, who has managed to elude them so far, experts say that regulating these accommodations is nearly impossible and that their safety rests in their own hands.
It's not every day that a half -naked intruder is spotted on a college campus with a knife in his hands. For inmates of the Maharani's Women's College hostel, the bizarre CCTV footage of the armed man dressed in women's underwear in their grounds has therefore been both shocking and petrifying.
"I thought it was a rumour until I saw the CCTV footage myself and was scared to know that this had happened for real," said Pavithra (name changed), a commerce student, adding, "As my hometown is 500 kms away, I spend most of my time in the hostel. So this sort of footage is very scary to see." The girl, who has been staying at the hostel for three years now, hopes the man will be caught soon and all of them can rest easy.
Some students are, however, not surprised. "This man has been creating a nuisance for a few years not just at our college but at other colleges nearby as well," said one student. Others reveal the college has filed a police complaint about the man lurking around the hostel in the past.
Claiming that the hostel security has always been good and the gate is locked securely at night, the hostel warden says the incident has left both the staff and students shocked as a result. "I was scared and so were the students," she admitted.
Principal of the Maharani Women's Arts, Commerce and Management College, Dr R Shantha Kumari reveals the hostel cook and watchman saw the intruder and tried to confront him with sticks, but he got away.
"He had oiled his body so he could not be touched. This is the first time we have caught him on CCTV, but this man has been creating a nuisance in and around this college and other colleges too," she said.
Revealing that the incident in question happened around a month ago, she says a police complaint was lodged at the time backed by the CCTV footage as evidence. "The police hope to catch the man soon," she added.
Several students of the Maharani Women’s College are keen on replacing all their male lecturers with female. "When it is a women's college, why can't the government appoint only women lecturers to it to ensure the safety of the students?” asked one angry student. An officer of the state higher education department claims the demand is not new and assures it will be discussed.
Maharani Women's College principal, Prof. Shantha Kumari, admits that no police complaint has been registered against lecturers accused of sexual harassing her students.
Officials of the Department of Collegiate Education (DCE), too reveal that all the allegations of sexual harassment against the seven lecturers of the college are being investigated by an internal anti -sexual harassment committee.
"It is called the Vishakha committee and it has been asked by the expert committee on preventing sexual violence against women and children headed by MLC VS Ugrappa to submit its report to it in the next 15 days," they said.
