Tiruchirapalli (Tamil Nadu): Hundreds of students of National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli (NIT-T) staged a sit-in protest on Friday, after a girl student alleged that a Wi-Fi technician sexually harassed her when she was alone in the room at the women’s hostel inside the campus at Thuvakudi on the outskirts of the city.
According to the students, the technician identified as G.Kathiresan (38) employed on contract basis went to the victim’s room to fix a Wi-Fi router on Thursday morning. He allegedly exposed his genitals and began to masturbate. The girl hurriedly took a picture of the man and ran away from the room. When she returned, there was semen on the floor of the room, which she had taken a picture of as well.
When the girl, an engineering student, lodged a complaint with the hostel authorities, she was subjected to insensitive remarks by the woman hostel warden.
The woman hostel warden also criticized the victim’s dress sense, sparking outrage among the students.
The girl’s parents lodged a complaint with All Women Police Station at Tiruverambur, based on which the police registered a case under sections 332(3) and 75(1) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, read with Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Woman Harassment Act and arrested the culprit.
The students, demanding public apology from the woman hostel warden for her insensitive remarks and the lethargic attitude of the institution authorities, staged a sit-in protest from past midnight.
As the protest continued for several hours, till this noon, Tiruchirapalli Superintendent of Police V.Varun Kumar and senior revenue officials held talks with the agitation students and persuaded them.
On the intervention of the police, the woman hostel warden tendered an apology to the students and the NIT-T authorities assured the students of taking all precautionary measures while allowing outsiders inside the hostel.
Accepting the apology from the woman hostel warden and assurance from the NIT-T authorities, the students withdrew their protest.
