A contract worker was arrested on Friday for allegedly sexually harassing a student at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Trichy. The incident, which occurred on Thursday in a women’s hostel room, sparked a spontaneous overnight protest by students, who criticized the administration for its insensitive response to the survivor, as reported by PTI.
In response to the incident, the NIT Trichy administration released a statement addressing the issue of sexual misconduct at the Opal women’s hostel. The statement assured the implementation of more stringent safety protocols to protect all students, particularly female students. “The administration of NITT has gone into the details of the unfortunate incident and have drawn out more stringent measures to ensure the safety of all students on campus, particularly, the safety of girl students. The Security Officer has been instructed to be more vigilant so as to prevent such eventualities,” the administration stated, emphasizing that further measures would be adopted to avoid any recurrence.
The accused was assigned to fix Wi-Fi connections at the institute. According to the complaint filed by the female student, Kathiresan entered her room on the pretext of repairing the Wi-Fi and then indecently exposed himself. Following the complaint, he was arrested by police shortly after.
Tiruchirappalli Superintendent of Police Varun Kumar told PTI, “It has to be ascertained how a male worker was allowed inside the women’s hostel where one of the cameras was not working.” The investigation is ongoing to determine lapses in security protocols that allowed the incident to occur.
During the protest, students demanded immediate action against the accused and condemned the administration’s handling of the incident, including what they described as “victim shaming,” PTI reported. The student body voiced concerns over the lack of safety measures in place for female students on campus.
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