Hyderabad: Priya Darshini, a 22-year-old MA student of Comparative Literature of University of Hyderbad, was followed by a man in the early hours of Sunday morning who sexually harassed her by masturbating in front of her. The spunky student screamed at him and threatened to lodge a complaint, which finally deterred him.
Despite the awareness about sexual harassment on campuses, two weeks ago during Holi, when a student of the Delhi University was hit by a semen-filled balloon, following protests, perverts continue to threaten women.
Priya described the incident to Deccan Chronicle: “While returning to ladies hostel around 1.30 am, I was accompanied by a friend for some time. But, after I continued to walk alone, I heard footsteps. When I turned back, I was shocked to see a man unzipping his pants just to bring his genitals out. Giving him benefit of the doubt, I continued to walk while he continued to follow me. I turned back again only to see him masturbating this time.”
The man was not known to Priya. She decided to take matters into her own hands and screamed at the man, saying that she would file a GS-Cash complaint i.e. a complaint with the student-run gender sensitisation committee in the UoH.
When the man hesitated and didn’t continue the act, she screamed even louder asking him to face her if he was bold enough to, which caused the man to flee.
Priya took it to social media to share the incident openly. “I did not file a complaint with the GS-Cash committee because then they will make it confidential. People must to know what happened to me so that they know that our campus is not safe anymore.”
Priya’s post on Facebook got a lot of attention, particularly from students who claimed to have faced similar situations. One comment read: “There have been instances of creeps masturbating right outside the ladies hostel in the north campus.”
Many students commended Priya’s courage in questioning the man as he might now think twice before doing this again. Of course, there was the usual why-was-she-out-so-late brigade who are addicted to blaming the victim rather than the perpetrator. The students’ union has stated that it will support Priya if she approaches them with a complaint.
