Chennai’s SRM Institute of Science and Technology witnessed protests on Thursday night (22 November) after a female student accused a staffer of masturbating in front of her at the women’s hostel, reports Firstpost.

As per initial reports, the victim was inside the hostel lift when the worker started making inappropriate sexual gestures to her. He blocked her path when she tried to escape, not letting her leave until she screamed. Some posts on social media detailing the incident claim that the accused was a mess worker while others state that he was a garbage man.

Students accused the college administration of being insensitive and alleged that the hostel warden had tried to hush away the matter by stating that such things happen to ‘North Indian girls’.

A friend of the victim revealed, "One of the first things that the warden told us was to change our clothes. She accused us of wearing short clothes implying that the girl deserved what she got. In fact the first response when we went to file a complaint was to go to our room, change our clothes and sleep. How can they be this insensitive?”

Students took to Facebook and Instagram to disclose how the hostel warden had told them to keep mum on the incident and had even delayed access to CCTV footage to identify the accused. They blamed the college administration for not initiating police action even after the accused was identified based on the CCTV tape, and raised slogans inside the campus in protest.

The protest was forcefully dispersed at 11.30 PM after police were called to the campus, and no official police complaint has been filed till now by either the administration or the victim.

Hostel warden

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