Policemen inspect women's hostel of ISEC; students seek director's ouster

BENGALURU: An all-male police team inspected a women's hostel on a premier social research campus on Sunday, touching off protests by students who called for the ouster of its director. Students alleged that the police team entered the hostel of the Institute for Social and Economic Change in southwest Bengaluru, and when they approached the director to raise the issue, he allegedly refused to help.
Senior institute officials said they were addressing the issues flagged by students. A top cop said the team entered the premises after securing the director's permission. The team was on the campus following a student's complaint. A statement released by the protesters al leged that the police team entered the hostel around 3.30pm, and there were no women personnel.“They started banging on the doors and entered the rooms of female research scholars. This is an act of invading female scholars' privacy,“ the statement read.
It alleged scholars in formed the wardens about the police presence. Wardens called the director, but the latter reportedly didn't visit the campus. The students alleged the director's decision to allow a police team smacked of insensitivity towards women scholars.
DCP (west) MN Anucheth said a student's complaint alleged that a man was staying with a female scholar in the women's hostel. “Based on it, our team visited the campus. We found the student's claim to be true, and the team submitted a report,“ he said.
Asked whether a man entering a women's hostel constituted a case of institutional discipline and wasn't police action a case of moral policing, Anucheth said: “We had received a written complaint from a student, who said a man staying in the hostel endangered her safety .“
He said the woman in whose room the man was staying said she was unwell and he was taking care of her.