The protest outside the police station. Picture by Gour Sharma

Durgapur, Sept. 3: Guardians and authorities of a girls’ high school in Asansol today demonstrated outside Hirapur police station accusing officers of inaction against eve-teasers.

The 200-strong crowd lodged a police complaint stating that local youths often harassed their daughters while they are on their way to the Manikchand Girls’ High School in Dihika.

“My Class VII daughter has been repeatedly harassed by some youths who pass lewd comments while she is going to school. Two days ago, some of them pulled her by the hand soon after she got down from the auto. We had earlier told the police about the matter. Today, we have lodged a written complaint with them,” an IISCO Steel Plant employee said.

The area has in the past month witnessed the murder of a seven-year-old girl and a tease-driven suicide.

The body of a Class II girl from Hirapur was found in a drain near her school in Burnpur last month. Her throat was slit and medical reports said the girl was sexually assaulted before being murdered.

A Class VIII girl, also from Hirapur, set herself on fire on August 14 after a kangaroo court taunted her and her father who had slapped a youth for teasing his daughter.

Both incidents had sparked protests outside the Hirapur police station where the police was accused of dragging their feet on the cases.

The headmistress of Manikchand Girls’ High School, Nibedita Achariya, who also accompanied the guardians to the protest, said she had lodged a separate complaint with the police, urging them to deploy policemen or patrol the area during school hours.

“I had noticed that many of our students have become irregular to class in the past few months. On inquiry, I learnt that they did so to avoid getting harassed in the area,” she said.

Ajay Nand, the commissioner of the Asansol-Durgapur police commissionerate, said policing would be stepped up around the school.

“We will deploy policemen in plain clothes near schools and step up patrolling in the area,” he said.