Months after the Muzaffarpur shelter home rape scandal, where girls were sexually harassed for several months, Bihar has been rocked by another case of sexual harassment where dozens of girls were thrashed for refusing sexual advances.

As many as 34 girls from Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV), a government-run residential school in Triveniganj town of Supaul district were thrashed black and blue by local residents for refusing to comply with the sexual advances of local youths, reported The Times of India.

KGVB is a school for people belonging from the SC/ST, OBC and other minority communities. About 30 girls from classes VI to VIII were rushed to Referral Hospital by district officials after the incident. Reportedly, the police have arrested nine people, mostly teenagers in connection with the case. 

What happened?

On Saturday, October 6, at around 5 pm, the girls were playing inside the campus of the school, when some boys from the nearby school started teasing them. Darbhanga Zonal Inspector General told ANI that the girls used to play regularly inside the campus. The boys would come and write lewd comments on the wall of the girls’ school. The girls would rub it off every day.

Girls used go to a playground nearby, some boys used to write obscene words on walls.Girls used to rub it off.This was happening since 2-4 days: Darbhanga zonal IG on at least 30 schoolgirls of a govt school in Supaul thrashed by miscreants for allegedly resisting sexual advances pic.twitter.com/M0wYhUV7VZ

— ANI (@ANI) October 7, 2018

This kept on happening for 3-4 days and on Saturday, the girls reacted and chased off the youths. Angry over the retaliation, the boys informed their parents about what the girls did. Then, their parents with other local residents reached the girls’ school and thrashed them. The mob beat the girls up continuously for half an hour and all vandalised school property.

The local administration rushed to the school after warden Reema Raj informed them about the incident. About 30 of the 50 girls had to be rushed to the nearby hospital and primary health centre. Two of the girls had to be sent to Supaul Sadar Hospital after their condition deteriorated.

While speaking with The Times of India, warden Reema Raj said that the girls were inside the campus playing as they do every day. “Suddenly, the girls started screaming and shouting. First, I thought they were making noise while playing. When the voices got louder, I saw around 15 people, both men and women, thrashing the girls with canes and rods. I alerted the security guard at the hostel and called up the local administration. By the time the security guard reached the school campus, they ran away,” she said.

District Magistrate Baidya Nath Yadav said that the boys were from Middle school, which shares the campus with KGBV but have separate buildings. The boys were thrashed by the girls for sexually harassing them on a regular basis and that angered them who came back with their parents.

Bihar Education Minister Krishna Nandan Prasad Verma said that serious action would be taken. He also said that to avoid such incidents from happening further, female constables would be deployed in girls’ schools.

The Logical Indian take

What happened is extremely disheartening. Girls are often subjected to harassment and they are scared to speak up because men usually react violently to accusations. These girls, as young as 13 were turned into sexual objects and their protest met with further harassment. It is time we teach our men that it is wrong to violate someone’s body or treat them as sexual objects than ask our girls to stay confined in a room and take precautions.

We hope the miscreants are caught and justified punishment is served to them.

Also Read: Bihar: 40 Girls As Young As Seven Raped & Tortured Repeatedly In Govt Run Shelter