The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Intruders assault woman in medical college hostel

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 04, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Intruders assault woman in medical college hostel

K.V. Subramanya and Swathi Shivanand

— Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

No security: The women’s hostel at Rajarajeshwari Medical College on Mysore Road in Bangalore where a student was attacked on Sunday night.

BANGALORE: Three men crept into the women’s hostel of Rajarajeshwari Medical College on Mysore Road here and assaulted a first year MBBS student right inside her ground floor room on Sunday night. Located in an isolated place away from the college, the hostel lacked the protection of even a compound wall and was unguarded at the time of the incident.

Around 7.30 p.m., the 19-year-old victim had just entered her room when the men overpowered her and tied up her wrists before punching her in the face, some students of the college told The Hindu. When one of her friends came to cal l her for dinner, the assailants made off with her purse, the students said.

Highly placed sources in the police confirmed that the intruders had assaulted the 19-year-old girl. The sources said that the three men were hiding in the bathroom when the girl entered her room. Earlier in the day, she had had an altercation with three men who had trespassed into the hostel premises and were trying to take away some undergarments hung out for drying.

The police suspect that these three men might have barged into the hostel and assaulted her. The trio, who spoke Hindi, could be labourers working in the immediate vicinity, the sources said.

When the hostel mates came to the girl’s rescue, she collapsed due to shock. The students immediately informed the warden of the men’s hostel, and she was taken to the college hospital in an ambulance, the students said.

On being alerted, the Kengeri police rushed two policemen on a Cheetah patrol motorcycle to the hostel. As the hostel is in the limits of Thalaghatapura police station in Bangalore Rural district, the jurisdictional police were informed of the incident.

In shock

The girls were in a state of shock and worried about their safety. A police picket was posted at the hostel on Sunday night. As no one had lodged a compliant, a formal case was not registered, the police sources said.

When contacted, Medical Director of the college B.L. Ramachandra said though three men had tried to barge into the hostel, they had not misbehaved with any of the inmates. “As the girls were scared, police security was provided to the hostel,” he said.

The Hindu team, which entered the hostel, were not stopped by any security guards, and no policemen were visible.

The team found that there was no compound wall for the building, which is situated behind the hospital on the sprawling college campus. Construction work was in progress on the campus.

Students, who were guarded in their reply, said there were no security personnel at the hostel when the incident took place.

The woman security guard who was on duty had left before the end of her shift. While the students claimed that the hostel did not have a warden for the past month, Dr. Ramachandra said she had been on leave for the past few days.

He said private security guards would be on duty at the hostel round the clock.

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