SP college turns into haven for goons as female students, teachers face frequent harassment

u00a0The reputed Sir Parshurambhau SP College at Tilak Road is fast acquiring infamy as far as the matter of womenrsquos safety is concerned A part of the campus has transformed into a sanctum for goons and women on the premises have become soft targets Harassment lewd comments directed at female students and even teachers have become commonplace Insiders say the college management has not initiated any action but when MiD DAY contacted the principal he assured that all these nuisances would be dealt with expeditiously In one such incident last week a std XI student had approached Vishrambaug police station to lodge a complaint against a man who had allegedly been stalking her for the past eight days However her parents refused to file a complaint and yet another crime went unnoticed SP College has a cell toassist women named lsquoSanvadini Vidyarthini Manchrsquo but according to teachers hardly any complaints are entertained here Shadow of fear Last week a Std XI student had complained to cops that a man had been stalking her for the past eight days ldquoThe environment on the campus is completely different from what I had expected while taking admission here Within two months I realised that this was the worst decision of my liferdquo a class XI student said ldquoThe security guards only ask students for ID cards They turn a blind eye to outsiders due to fear If the security personnel feel insecure how can the college ensure the safety of womenrdquo asked another student Brave smile Students of SP College have requested the authorities to establish an effective womenrsquos grievance cell at the institute to counter the menace of sexual harassment Rahul Meshram a junior college teacher at the institute who is also incharge of the disciplinary committee there for the past many years says he is waging a lonely battle ldquoThe college has fourfive groups of boys ndash comprising passedout students and those who have been unsuccessful in exams Most of them belong to the adjacent slums They have taken over certain parts like the canteen main gate and open areas and they sit there the entire day There only intention is to trouble the girls Since they know that the college is ignoring the issue their mischief is increasing progressivelyrdquo Meshram said u00a0 Asked why the college administration is not initiating any steps to curb this he said ldquoI donrsquot know why but the administration has been neglecting this crucial matter I have personally filed many complaints against these goons before the principal but till today neither the college nor police have taken any measuresrdquo Incidentally when the miscreants came to know that Meshram was trying to thwart their activities last year some boys pelted his car with stones ldquoIn the episode last week I had accompanied the girl to file a report But every time the police asked me why didnrsquot the college didnrsquot issue a complaint against the boys I donrsquot have any answersrdquo Meshram added When contacted Dilip Sheth principal of SP College he said ldquoWe are concerned about this issue We have requested cops to patrol the campus on several occasions I assure you that in the next couple of days we will take actionrdquo ldquoIt is shocking that a reputed college like SP has presence of such gangs The question is whyrsquos the college principal hesitating in lodging a police complaintrdquo Shiv Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe saidu00a0 Different picture Other hand other city colleges have at least have functioning cells to deal with harassment complaints of girls Nowrosjee Wadia College has one such facility with six teachers on the panel ldquoThe cell hardly receives any complaints from girls regarding sexual harassment One of the reasons may be that the victims are hesitant to come forward u00a0Thatrsquos why now we have decided to place complaint boxes on the campus in which girls can submit their grievances without mentioning namesrdquo said Dr Ranjana Bhadane teacher and member of harassment cell of Nowrosjee Wadia College u00a0Fergusson College has also displayed boards on campus giving information of the collegersquos cell where female students can submit their complaints u00a0 Voices They the miscreants have taken over the canteen main gate and open areas and they sit there the entire day There only intention is to trouble the girls Since they know that the college is ignoring the issue their mischief is increasing Rahul Meshram a junior college teacher at the institute We have never received any complaint from the institute administration regarding nuisance created by outsiders Rather than just verbally discussing such issues internally the college must give us a written complaint Arjun Sakunde inspector Vishrambaug police station The environment on campus is totally different from what Irsquod expected while taking admission Within two months I realised that this was the worst decision of my life An SP College studentu00a0