A day after a 24-year-old woman was molested on the campus, students of MGM Engineering College in Kamothe staged a protest on Friday, demanding the sacking of the principal.
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The demonstrators led by the ABVP and Yuva Sena claimed the principal was immediately informed of the molestation.
“But he chose to take part in a function of the college and attended to the victim only after the function was over,” a final year civil engineering student said.
Darshan Babare, an ABVP representative from Konkan, said the management said the principal had been terminated, but they had not seen any official letter yet. “A few girls have also alleged that there are some professors who have been sexually abusing them and threatening to fail them if they tell anyone about it. We will take this is up with the management and the police.”
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Mr. Babare said the second shift of the college at times goes on till 9.30 p.m. and in such cases, it becomes a security issue for girl students to travel back home as the college doesn’t have transportation facility.
Around 2 p.m. on Thursday, Vinod Phad (30), a former student, who had come to the college to enquire about repeat exams for BSc IT final year, was caught masturbating on a student.
The incident occurred in the photocopy shop on the college premises where the accused was standing behind the student. “The complainant in her statement said since there was a rush at the shop, she ignored the push she felt from behind. When she realised that the touch was intentional, she turned around and saw the man masturbating on her, and the semen had fallen on her clothes,” an officer from Kamothe police station said. When other students nabbed him, he said he was a police officer. Later, a group of students gathered outside Kamothe police station till an FIR was registered. Mr. Phad was arrested. He was produced before the court on Friday and remanded in police custody till August 27.
Ashok Dudhe, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone II, said the accused, son of a former military officer, got married three months ago. “He is working as a security guard with a semi-government organisation — Maharashtra State Security Corporation — and is posted at RBI headquarters in Mumbai.”
Mr. Dudhe said they interacted with the students for close to five hours to calm them down. “In molestation cases, usually the accused gets bail, but in this case we have got his custody which is an achievement. We haven’t received any formal complaint from a student alleging abuse by professors. But if we get any, action will be definitely taken.”