Alleging what they termed “moral policing” by the security staff, female students staying at the hostel of Central University of Karnataka (CUK) near Kadaganchi in Kalaburagi district held a flash protest outside the residence of Vice-Chancellor Battu Satyanarayana late on Wednesday and continued to agitate till almost 2 p.m. on Thursday.
Since there was no response from the authorities, the students resumed the agitation on Thursday morning.
The students said that they had to resort to protest as the Vice-chancellor, after making them wait for four hours, declined to meet them and discuss issues concerning their hostel security, especially “moral policing” and “invasion of their privacy” by the security staff at the hostel.
On January 10, the female students of the hostel had written to the Vice-Chancellor levelling several allegations against the security staff of the hostel and requested him to address the issues. Since there was no action from him, they wanted to personally meet and discuss the issues on Wednesday. Denial of the meeting led to the protest.
The allegations included security personnel objecting to girls talking to students near the hostel, male electricians entering the rooms of girls without permission, closing the hostel gates by 9 p.m. against the closing time of 10 p.m., using of foul and offensive language by some security staff, roaming the corridors of the hostel looking inside the rooms, and security staff taking photos without their consent.
“We had brought the issues to the notice of the hostel caretaker, but she did nothing. We then wrote to the Vice-Chancellor, but he declined to discuss the issues with us,” a student, who wished not to be identified, told The Hindu.
Student suspended
In another related incident, Pavithra Sreenivas, a third-semester student studying at the Department of Economic Studies and Planning, was on Tuesday suspended for a week on the charges of “ unruly behaviour with the security staff” on January 6. She was told that she had “violated of disciplinary norms of the university” and asked not to “be present on the campus” between January 12 and 18, even though there are examination.
Ms. Pavithra categorically denied the allegations saying there was an argument between her and the security staff after they objected to her talking to a male student outside the hostel at 5 p.m. on Friday. “The security committee met on Monday and issued the suspension order the next day. My career is being spoiled for no fault of mine,” she said.
The Vice-Chancellor dismissed the allegations made by the students as baseless and asserted that the security measures were put in place for the larger interest of the female students.
“Security measures and disciplinary rules are enforced for the safety of female students. Female Home Guards are posted at hostels and work during the day. Female guards were posted during the night. An electrician or male person cannot enter the women’s hostel on his own. If there is work, he will go with the caretaker during the daytime, when students are attending classes. Since I have tightened security measures, they are making the allegations,” Mr. Satyanarayana said.
Registrar Basavaraj Donur said that he had received a fresh memorandum from the students with a list of demands and the students withdrew the agitation after they were assured the demands could be addressed at the university level.
Published - January 12, 2023 07:56 pm IST
