Platform horror for schoolgirls

Students of Carmel Schools and their parents at Dhanbad station on Sunday.  Dhanbad, Nov. 24: Ninety-three schoolgirls of two premier coal town institutions, accompanied by five teachers and a nun, were teased for 45 harrowing minutes by 60 youths on a crowded platform at Patna Junction last night, another shocking reminder of how vulnerable girls are in India, even in a group with adult guardians. The youths, aspirants of Group D railway recruitment test held this morning across centres, including Dhanbad, were mostly ticketless travellers. They made lewd remarks at the girls, forcibly occupied reserved seats on Ganga Damodar Express sleeper coach (S1) and blocked the two doors of the compartment. As no one stopped to help, the traumatised girls and their teachers ran to an AC coach (B1), where seats had been booked for a few students. All chose to share seats and stay awake during the nightlong journey back home over running the risk of assault. The girls from Classes IX-XII of Carmel Schools in Dhanbad and Digwadih were returning from a two-day education tour in Patna when the incident occurred between 11.30pm on Saturday and 12.15am on Sunday. Three teachers and 34 girls were from Carmel School Dhanbad, while two teachers, a nun and 59 girls were from the Digwadih cradle. They reached Dhanbad Junction early this morning, shocked out of their wits. The girls were sent safely home. Speaking to The Telegraph, Darleen Rydqvist, a teacher of Carmel School, Dhanbad, said: “Our contingent had assembled on platform No. 10 at Patna Junction before time to catch the train that arrives at 11.30pm. As soon as it did, hundreds of railway recruitment examinees swarmed on the platform and rushed inside sleeper coaches, including S1. Then, the nightmare started.” The teacher said seats for their Dhanbad squad had been booked in S1, while Digwadih counterparts had reservations in B1. “Some youths blocked S1 compartment’s doors, some occupied our reserved seats and most kept heckling the girls loudly. We were completely helpless. We ran to the B1 coach for safety. No one from railway authority on the platform helped us. No fellow passenger intervened on our behalf. We are shocked,” Rydqvist said. The teacher also alleged an RPF sub-inspector and constable in Patna disappeared from the scene of trouble. “One of the girls called up her father, a highly placed man, who got a TTE to accompany us to the AC coach,” she added. “All 99 of us spent the night crammed into the 62 berths in the AC compartment and somehow returned home.” Initially, teachers had tried to reason with the youths with “folded hands”, she added. But the jeers and taunts of the youths made the girls and teachers feel “totally unsafe”. “As escorts representing our schools, our priority was the security of the girls,” she said. Carmel School-Dhanbad principal Sister Margaret Mary will lodge a complaint with railway authorities in Dhanbad tomorrow. “The issue is related to Patna Junction. The school should lodge its complaint with the Government Railway Police in Patna,” RPF senior commandant (Dhanbad division) Hiramani Tiwari said. On the alleged inaction of RPF personnel on the Patna platform yesterday, Tiwari said: “The school can send its complaint to Patna RPF authorities in this regard via registered post.” Source:http://www.telegraphindia.com/1131125/jsp/frontpage/story_17608617.jsp#.Upyn4o1f7Ir