SHUBHANGI SHIFA
Ranchi, Sept 19: The recent incident of Doranda College in the city where a few miscreants entered the college, misbehaved with girls and beat up a professor, even though it seems isolated, but isn’t. If looked at closely, girls of almost every college in the city face such miscreants that gather outside colleges during breaks and pass comments on them.
The hub of it all seems to be the Morabadi campus of Ranchi University along with the new Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee University. Guards, even though present, seldom ask questions regarding uniforms or ask for ID cards.
When questioned in this regard, Sonali, a second-year student of Ranchi University said, “There are often several boys waiting as we come out of the building after classes. They sometimes comment, sometimes stare and sometimes even get on rides with us, just so we notice them.”
Shreya (standing next to Sonali) added, “They even try to get close to us on e-rickshaws. Some of the e-rickshaw drivers even ask three people to sit on one seat. If one of them is a boy, we often have to manage.”
Prarthana, a DSPMU student said, “I have heard of teasing from friends which is not directly aimed at them, but hints in subtle ways. For instance, a boy starts talking loudly as a girl passes to make sure she hears what is being talked about. There are also times when they try to talk to us either directly or through their friends.”
“I faced a situation a couple of years back as an undergrad student here, where a boy would wait for me outside my department in hopes that I would talk to him. He even managed to get my phone number and would message me. He started sending me requests to follow on social media. I ultimately blocked him from all social media handles. After a while, I noticed the boy with another girl, and realised that it was finally over,” said Anjana Shikha, a postgraduate student at RU.
She continued, “However, the stress I felt in those times is not gone yet. I now either ask a male friend from class to accompany me or a couple of female friends to go with me.”
On asking the reason behind not complaining about the person, Shikha said, “It is so common now that no one other than the victim notices or thinks twice about it. He was not from my college or department, plus I didn’t want any trouble.”
Meanwhile, when questioned if the safety measures taken in Doranda College will be taken here as well, Ranchi University VC Dr Prof Ajit Kumar Sinha said, “At present, Doranda College will not allow entry without a uniform and ID card. The entrance to the bank on the campus will be removed from inside the bank so that no one can come to the campus under the guise of going to the bank. Along with this, cameras will be monitored by the office of senior SP and controlled by BSNL. Along with this, alarms and sirens will be set up on the campus that will alert the authorities if ever rung.”
Furthermore, regarding the Morabadi Campus, the VC said, “We have 52 guards for the campus, however, they are not present at the moment. I am working to improve the guard and monitoring conditions in the campus so that girl students don’t face eve teasing.”
