How a Bangalore women's college caught the thief who wears women's underwear
Bangalore, a city that was under the scanner at the beginning of this year for mass molestations on New Year’s Eve, is back in the news again for similar, though a hell lot weirder reason. The city’s Maharani Women's College has been prey to repeated attacks from sexual predator(s) unknown, who have been running amok in the campus, stealing women’s underwear.
CCTV footage from the night of February 12, shows the man - donned in a brassier - stealing inner wear of women from the laundry section. It shows the half-naked man entering the hostel around midnight and stealing students' undergarments while trying to scare them with a knife. After being chased for a bit by a security guard, the man escapes by jumping the compound wall.
Bizarre as it seems, this is not the first time something like this has happened. Despite repeated complaints from dozens of young female students in Maharani Women's College about sexual predators like these in the college/hostel campus, the authorities have done nada.
The incident received some well-deserved attention after the Expert Committee on Preventing Sexual Violence against Women and Children, led by MLC, Mr VS Ugrappa, visited the college to probe the sexual harassment allegation of a student against a lecturer. The CCTV footage was shown to the committee, with a request to enhance security.
Students have alleged that the man has stolen at least a dozen of their innerwear. Despite having filed numerous complaints, neither the police, nor the college authorities have taken any action. The police had not taken any action so far. The students also claim that they have seen armed strangers entering the campus. Despite overwhelming evidence (the CCTV footage), the police, true to habit, have denied that any such thing has happened in the past.
Hostel officials have handed over the CCTV footage of February 12, to the cops. The college’s principal, R Shantakumari, told the Deccan Chronicle that the pervert in question was seen often but not at regular intervals.
"Our girls have seen him jumping from the compound wall and enter the hostel. A few months ago, the girls had screamed on seeing him and he ran away. There was no news of him since then. All of a sudden, he was spotted in February," she said.
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But underwear thief or not, the college women have had multiple encounters with sexual harassment, most disturbingly at the hands of the staff. The Expert Committee led by Mr Ugrappa had initially come to the college to investigate sexually harassment charges levelled against a lecturer by a student. The lecturer had allegedly kissed a girl student for wearing a new dress.
The lecturer in question, Ramalingappa Begur, has thankfully been suspended now. But that too was not without its own troubles. According to reports, a complaint was first filed with Department of Collegiate Education. Following their investigation, which proved the allegations prima facie, the lecturer has been deputed to a government college in Jewargi.
But sadly enough, it doesn’t end there. According to Bangalore Mirror, Ugrappa said that around 15 lecturers need to be suspended as there were many charges against them.
The Oscar-worthy silent spectator act, played both by the college authorities and the police, is what allows incidents like this one to keep happening. When the college does nothing to guarantee women’s safety from predators inside the campus, what are they to do when perverts in lingerie start threatening the students with knives?