Noida: In a shocking incident, a group of men allegedly broke into the campus hostel of Kumari Mayawati Government Girls Polytechnic College in Badalpur, Greater Noida after Sunday midnight to spy on girl students, causing 172 out of 187 students to flee their hostel and head back home out of fear for their safety, as per a Times of India report. The incident also led to protests in the campus on Monday.
However, this was not a stand alone incident, according to the students there have been repeated intrusions over the past week but this time - the group of boys even knocked on their doors.
A first-year student told TOI that the girls were frightened when they discovered that the group of men, aged between 25 and 40 were peeping through the windows of their hostel room. According to the student, their shouts and plea for help went in vain as their was no one to help them.
Another student said that women even avoided going to the washroom at night fearing that they will spied. "To feel safe, all 15 girls who have stayed back at the hostel have moved into one room and are keeping a watch by staying up at night," told a second year student to TOI.
In recent weeks, students have also claimed to have seen drones on campus.
Teachers asked to do the job of hostel wardens
An official from the college told TOI that there are four hostels on campus but there has never been a position of hostel warden.
Furthermore, a college teacher said that even the teachers were asked to do the job of hostel wardens at night but no one agreed because of no additional remuneration and the requirement of doing the job additionally during the night after taking the classes whole day.
"The college has just four positions for security guards since it was opened in 2002. Two guards are deployed during the day, and two at night, in alternative shifts. If even one of them goes on leave, it becomes difficult to manage," college principal Shyam Narayan Singh told TOI.
He clarified that only the education department has the authority to create positions at the government-run residential college. Singh further claimed that the hostel wardens require their own stations and the campus needs at least 12 guards.
Furthermore, the college administration reports that although the campus is built up to accommodate the installation of sixteen CCTV cameras, only ten of them are presently active.
After visiting the hostels, district magistrate Manish Kumar Verma told TOI that the district school inspector (DIOS) and other officials from the education department had been directed to produce a report and that necessary steps will be taken at the earliest to ensure security.
According to police, they spoke with the students who were protesting on Tuesday and have enhanced nighttime patrols in the vicinity of the campus, reported TOI. Additionally, the police are inspecting the area to make sure that the students are safe. No case has been registered so far.
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