Screams of distress or cell ring tone at SNDT College?

Fear grips campus after students report hearing screams of pain from Home Science building for over 2 hours

A pall of fear descended on the SNDT College campus after girls staying in the Old Hostel reported having heard screams emanating from one of the rooms of the Home Science building on Sunday afternoon.

But college authorities said that the screams could be a ring tone and even hinted that political groups with vested interests were instigating students to raise these issues.


Living in fear: Students on the SNDT College campus say
authorities are not taking their complaints seriously

MiD DAY visited the campus and interacted with girls from Old Hostel to know the reality. According to three witnesses who said they had heard the screams for almost two-and-half hours, a girl could be heard yelling in pain and pleading to someone inside to leave her hand and let her go.

A student said: "This followed a movement of desks in the room on the third floor." A Std XI student who was present in the hostel told MiD DAY: "We immediately informed hostel rector Chandra Salunkhe and she asked the mess manager to inspect the rooms, but we believe that he only checked them superficially, only knocking on the doors and enquiring whether anyone was inside."

Another girl from the hostel said: "Watchmen checked the rooms only after principal came and that was two hours later."

A BCom student said: "Knowing that the Home Science building has a back door which opens in the bakery on the ground floor, giving a full access to the building, we strongly feel that if the person was inside he would have ran away after the commotion."

Principal's denial
Principal Veena Sant of the college denied all charges made by the students and maintained that she responded the moment she was informed by the hostel rector.

She said: "We were told by one of the girl student that the screams heard by some of them were sounding similar to the ring tones found on some mobile phones. We are cooperating with the police, but I also feel that someone from outside of the college is purposely instigating our students to raise these issues."

The students, however, maintained that what they had heard were screams and not a ring tone. Students from the college said that though it was a girl's college, hooligans often entered the college by bribing the
watchmen. A girl said: "After college hours, boys often enter our premises on the pretext of playing cricket." An MCom student said: "We have brought this to the notice of our teachers but nothing has happened."

Parties intervene
The campus was abuzz with representatives of political parties like the MNS, the BJP and the Shiv Sena. Advocate Rupali Patil Thombare said: "We feel that college authorities are trying to cover up but
we demand the person responsible for harassing the girl should get maximum punishment."

API Manohar Kulkarni said: "The authorities did not inform us on Sunday. There was a call made to the control room yesterday morning. We are probing the case."