NIT girls protest molestation

Patna: Enraged by a construction worker's alleged attempt to molest a girl boarder of the NIT, Patna's hostel around 8.30pm on Saturday, other girl boarders sat on dharna in the institute's field on Saturday night for a couple of hours. The girls were also furious because an official of the hostel administration, instead of taking immediate action against the worker, made objectionable comment on the dressing sense of girls. An FIR of molestation was lodged with the

Pirbahore

police station by the assistant director of NIT, Patna, on Sunday.

Giving details of the incident, a boarder wishing anonymity told TOI, "There are three girls hostels -

Ganga

, Ganga-2 and Bagmati. In Ganga-2, girls stay in the top two floors, while construction work is going on at the other floors. Construction workers stay there round-the-clock. A boarder of Ganga-2 was talking over phone at the fifth floor around 8.30pm when a construction worker pulled her hand and tried to take her to the first floor. She was rescued when another girl returning after dinner saw the incident and started shouting. The man immediately ran away from there. After that, we called Dial-100 to inform police and hostel security staff were also informed. Our male batchmates who stay in boys' hostels also came to our rescue."

She added, "To demand justice, we sat on dharna at the college field. There is no proper security arrangement for the students staying in hostels. When girls are staying at Ganga-2, how come the college management allow construction workers to stay in the same building."

Sunita Devi, involved in the girls' hostels management, told police the students had issues over dress code with the college management and the hostel management official's comment might have exacerbated the situation.

Police sources said around midnight, Town DSP Kailashpati along with police force reached the spot to take stock of the situation. "After the comment over dressing sense, the students turned violent and started pelting stones, in which the glass of Town DSP's vehicle cracked," said a police official.

Patna SSP Manu Maharaaj said, "The girls do not want to be a complainant. The store manager of the construction company has been asked to provide the details of workers. We will discuss the security measures taken by the institute."