Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada

CP for making attack on girls non-bailable

A participant airing her views on harassment of girls on campuses in Vijayawada on Tuesday.

VIJAYAWADA: The law should be made more stringent and attacks on girls on college campuses should be made non-bailable, said Commissioner of Police K.V. Rajendranath Reddy on Tuesday.

Participating in a meeting to evolve preventive strategies for the safety of girls on campuses, organised by the Vasavya Mahila Mandali, Mr. Reddy said making these offences non-bailable would be a big deterrent. “Putting the offenders in jail until completion of the trial will send a strong signal,” he said.

The Police Commissioner said though the city police had been able to get bail cancelled for Sandeep, who attacked engineering student Meena Kumari, he managed to get the same in the High Court.

Mr. Reddy said college principals had a very big responsibility of creating an incident-free atmosphere on their respective campuses. “They should be in a position to certify that there will be no such incidents,” he said. The parents were equally responsible for the conduct of their children, he felt. “It is better not to have children than to unleash such monsters in human form on society,” Mr. Reddy said, in a fit of intense emotion. The parents should take a keen interest in bringing up children properly, he suggested.

Mr. Reddy said girls and parents should show courage in reporting aggressive behaviour from other students.

The city police were taking several proactive steps to check eve-teasing and related violence. Teams were interacting with girl students at bus stops and surprise checks were being made in buses to catch eve-teasers who operate while the buses were in motion.

Noted surgeon K. Pattabhiramaiah said these attacks were a result of an overall deterioration in moral values.

He suggested the formation of non-political citizen’s committees to help parents and students approach law enforcement officials.

Management consultant M.C. Das said both parents and educational institutions should take responsibility to prevent such incidents from happening. Former Lok Sabha member Chennupati Vidya, Vasavya Mahila Mandali office-bearers Keerthi and Deeksha moderated the discussion.

Several lawyers, students and social workers expressed their opinions.

Ms. Deeksha said that the resolutions passed after the discussion would be sent to the authorities concerned for necessary action.

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