The frisking fiasco at the Mar Thoma College of Science and Technology, Ayur, snowballed into a controversy with four more students coming forward with complaints on Tuesday.
According to one of the complainants, the experience of moving around and attending the exam without innerwear was traumatic for many.
“Their behaviour was rude and they ignored the girls who started crying after they were forced to remove the innerwear. There was no privacy as we were taken to a dark room as a group and asked to change there. Despite the COVID-19 protocol, the clothes were thrown together in an unhygienic manner,” she said.
The students said girls who attended the exam at other centres were not tortured this way. “We were uncomfortable sitting among strangers attempting the exam and it affected my performance,” she added.
Based on a CCTV footage collected from the college, the police detained five women, including college staff and women deployed by the agency, who were on duty during the exam. Reportedly, the persons who forced the girls to remove their innerwear had no training.
Deputy Inspector General R. Nishanthini visited the college to supervise the probe. According to officials, arrests would be recorded after collecting all evidence.
“We need to ascertain the identity of women involved in the case. The girls who approached the police did not take any names and we will be taking their detailed statements. We are questioning those who were on duty and action will be taken after verifying all details,” said an official.
The Kerala Women’s Commission registered a suo motu case and commission member Shahida Kamal, who visited the college, said the incident was unfortunate.
“The commission could not treat it as an isolated incident and we contacted others girls who had to go through the ordeal. Though there were similar complaints in the past, this is more serious and unscrupulous. They were attending a crucial exam and the incident completely broke their confidence,” she said.
Meanwhile, protest marches taken out by student organisations to the college turned violent and many protesters were injured in lathicharge.
Marches by the Kerala Students Union, Students Federation of India, and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad reached the college one after another and violence erupted when the police tried to stop them from entering the campus.
Some angry protesters later stormed in, pelting stones at the building and smashing windowpanes. They also threw stones at the police, forcing them to resort to lathicharge to disperse the crowd. Tension prevailed on the campus and premises for sometime.
