Mumbai: Barkha*, a former resident at the government-run Savitri Devi Phule Hostel for at Mumbai's Charni Road, narrates an incident involving her younger sister who also stayed at the dormitory. The sister and her friends found that one of the male staffers at the hostel mess would ogle at them lecherously. When the students complained about the uncomfortable stares to Dr Varsha Andhare, the long-time warden of the women's hostel, they were in a rude shock. "Your sister's batch too had a lot of complaints, but we know how clean they were," was the terse response from the Warden, reported Barkha.
This dismissiveness and character assassination in response to allegations of harassment have been a norm, according to a number of past and present inmates of the hostel, which recently hit headlines last week after one of its inmates, an 18-year-old female student from Akola, was found to be raped and murdered in her room on the fourth floor of the building. The gruesome crime, according to Marine Drive police, was allegedly committed by the hostel security guard, who appears to have killed himself by jumping in front of a running train.
Past, present residents share ordeal
While the incident shocked everyone, especially the scores of women for whom the hostel was home during their time as students in the city, it also unmasks years of lackadaisical approach towards the women's safety and dignity at the institute. From male staff having easy access to dormitories to the administration ignoring persistent complaints about harassment, several past and present residents of Savitri Devi Phule Hostel shared their ordeal at an online meeting held late on Thursday night to support the current occupants traumatised by the alleged rape and murder of their hostel mate.
"We faced a lot of emotional abuse during our time at the hostel. There were questions about our security, too," said Vaishali*, a human rights lawyer at the Supreme Court and former inmate of the hostel, who had convened the meeting. "I had gone to the warden with so many complaints, but nothing happened. Instead, we were slut shamed," she added.
When FPJ reached Andhare for a comment, she replied, "I will definitely speak with you but let me finish off the official matters first."
Troubling Behavious Goes Unchecked for Years
According to participants of the meeting, the suspect enjoyed the trust of the administration despite a clear pattern of troubling behaviour in the past. The 33-year-old was a permanent fixture at the women's hostel for the last 15 years or so. His father also worked here. With a shortage of regular staff at the institute, he would handle everything from fixing electric equipment to running errands for the female inmates. He, along with his brother, also ran a laundry service for them. He even stayed at the hostel during night hours.
According to the hostel alumni and residents, he freely roamed around the premises, often to the discomfiture of the inmates. While he mostly appeared "friendly" and "helpful", the women reckoned that the guard was often intrusive and flirtatious. Participant after participant at the meeting narrated instances of his "creepy" conduct going unchecked by the authorities.
"When he would enter our room for some work, he would look around and check our undergarments that were hung to dry. When the girls complained to the warden, she said that she couldn't believe such a thing as he was there for 15 years," said Niharika*, a former resident.
Prajakta*, another woman who stayed at the hostel said, "I was once studying alone in the reading room. The guard came and started talking about inane things. I now realise that he was trying to flirt with me. He would also ask my friends about me. And when he came to know I was leaving the hostel, he would say how sad he was. And when I was eventually stepping out, he came running to see me off."
Speaking to FPJ, Vaishali said that the guard would even lurk around even when the women socialised at the Marine Drive promenade in front of the hostel. "I complained to Andhare that he is extremely interfering and asked personal questions. My complaint was that he was always creepy and it was normalised because he was told to keep an eye on the residents," she said. However, the complaint yielded nothing.
In fact, the father of the victim has also claimed that when she started receiving unwanted attention from the guard, she too had reported it to the warden around two weeks ago, but to no avail.
Slut-shaming, Victim-blaming in Response to Grievances
The hostel inmates said that most of their complaints, about harassment as well as other ills at the hostel, fell on deaf ears. What's worse, the authorities often responded to these grievances with hostility, even resorting to what the complainants termed as 'victim-blaming' and 'slut shaming'. "Vacate the hostel," was the common response to anyone who dared to criticise the administration.
Jayeshree*, who was staying at the hostel when the incident happened, said that once when someone spoke against the warden responded by saying,"Next time, if you get stuck in an elevator, you will have to write a letter to PWD (the state government's Public Works Department) [if you don't want him to do all these tasks for you]."
The administration's lack of seriousness towards women's security was also evident from the complaints about the CCTV cameras in the building. The inmates claimed that an unidentified woman had entered the premises two months ago without permission. While she was soon ejected, the residents demanded to see the CCTV footage of the intrusion. They were told that, except those installed on the entrance, the cameras in the building had stopped working.
The inmates were asked to vacate the hostel premises two months ago, as the building had become dilapidated and was in need of repairs. While most students at the hostel are away on their summer break barring a few who had exams. In May, the state had zeroed in on a newly constructed Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) building in Bandra East as the temporary abode of hostel inmates. However, following the incident, the remaining women were packed off to the nearby state-run Telang Memorial Hostel at Churchgate.
* Names have been changed to protect identity
