Around 800 students from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Trichy, a union government institute in Tamil Nadu, held a night-long protest on Thursday, August 29, after a woman student from the college hostel complained of sexual harassment by an electrician. Students alleged that the hostel warden had tried to silence the survivor and victim-blamed her. Following inaction by the college, the survivor, along with her parents, filed a complaint with the Navalpattu police, students said. 

P Gopalachandran, Additional Superintendent of Police (ADSP) Trichy told TNM that a First Information Report (FIR) was filed and the accused was remanded during the wee hours of Friday, August 30. 

Students residing in the college hostel told TNM that there was an issue with the WiFi in the girls hostel, due to which electrical works have been carried out since early August. Bhavya (name changed), a student from the hostel, told TNM, “There are around 10-15 electricians who work in groups during day time. However, there is only one steward available. So she could only accompany one group of electricians at a time,” 

“On Thursday, the electrician allegedly went alone into the room of the survivor. He exposed his genitals and began to masturbate. The girl hurriedly took a picture of the man and ran away from the room. There was semen on the floor of the room, which the girl had taken a picture of as well. The survivor complained to the hostel warden and informed her close friends. However, the warden allegedly told the survivor to ‘not blow it up’ and not approach the media. The survivor’s close friends also said that the warden victim-blamed the survivor by saying that she was dressed in a certain way and that she should have been careful,” Bhavya added. 

“The WiFi works are not complete, so electricians will continue their work now. Since the warden didn’t initiate action, we don't feel safe in our hostel. On Thursday, we refused to mark our attendance and assembled outside the hostel entrance and protested all night,” another woman student said.

Baby Vishwambharan, the warden, also apologised before the protestors, students said. However, the students have demanded that the warden and stewards be suspended and that security be improved. 

On Friday, Varun Kumar, the Superintendent of Police (SP) Trichy circulated a personal helpline number for students and assured students of their security. 

Details of the accused are awaited. This article will be updated.

It may be noted that previously in 2019 a female student of NIT Trichy was raped by a local rowdy. The female student who had returned from a movie theatre at night was not allowed entry into the hostel since it was past curfew time. She, along with her male friend was forced to take shelter in a bus stop where the local rowdy found them. S Manikandan, the rowdy, had beat the man up and raped the female student. He was recently sentenced to 15-year-imprisonment by a Mahila court in Trichy.

Read: Do curfews for women help or harm? NIT Trichy student rape case restarts debate