Delhi has often captured the nation’s attention when it comes to shocking incidents linked to safety of women and girls. One such incident – reported earlier this month – was when videos were shared from the Miranda College of boys scaling walls to get inside. Weeks later, memories are still scarred.
A student – who had at the time posted a clip on social media which captured the horror – has now shared her experience with the Humans of Bombay website. Amid the commotion, she said, “a bra was stolen” and “paraded in the college”. “Our security guard hurt herself too. It was heartbreaking. And when I tweeted about this incident, many alumni from 20-30 years ago reached out sharing similar experiences. I honestly don’t know what to say,” she writes. In her post is also a mention of December 16 gangrape – the Nirbhaya incident – which sparked the biggest protests in the national capital about a decade ago.
Miranda isn’t “a Women’s college but a Gender minority college. We’re a home to many queer people,” she has been quoted as saying in a post on Instagram. She recalled the time when she had decided to take admission in the college, and was warned “that the men from neighboring colleges would lurk outside catcalling us. It had been happening for years.”
Girl students, she says, live in a constant fear of being groped. They carry their shawls and shrugs, and only once inside the college, they feel safe. The worst part, she says, is “that we’re used to this. We’re no longer appalled or taken aback. We’re just disappointed.”
On the incident that happened during the Diwali Mela, on October 14, she said: “The men barged inside our college. I wasn’t there until later but I came to know from a friend. At first I thought it was the usual but when I learnt that these men were let in by the ‘cops’, I was shook. We all were. We don’t know why the cops instead of taking action had opened the gates to these men. But it was too late.” She also spoke on the conversations that followed among men.
The Delhi Police had said a molestation case was filed following the incident.
Despite the grim situation, the student concludes her post on a hopeful note. She says she wishes to do Master’s and PhD and teach here. “And years later when I step into Miranda again, no student should be worried about any man objectifying them. That’s not too much to ask for, right?” she asks.
