Man masturbates in front of girl student; arrested

A 28-year-old worker with the SRM University on the outskirts of the city was arrested on Friday for allegedly masturbating before a girl student, hours after hundreds of students protested against the incident that took place inside the campus.

S Arjuna, who was hired recently to clear waste food from the hostel mess, allegedly masturbated before a second-year undergraduate student inside an elevator in the university campus on Thursday evening. Though the girl student, according to students in the university, complained to the warden immediately, the administration kept quiet till the inmates erupted in protest.

N Sethuraman, Registrar, SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST), said while the accused was arrested following a complaint, the warden has been placed under suspension.

“The culprit in question was an outsourced contractual employee who collects food waste from the mess. Having circumvented basic security provisions, he was in the lift when the incident occurred. As the hostel is well equipped with CCTV, it helped us identify the culprit quickly," he said in a statement.

Admitting that there was a "slight delay" in filing a police complaint, he said a committee has been commissioned to look into the issue and strengthening the students' safety and security measures on the campus.

Students close to the victim said the girl had taken the elevator along with the alleged accused at 4 pm on Thursday evening. They said while the victim wanted to go to the fourth floor, the man pressed the button to go to sixth floor. “But he indulged in sexually inappropriate behaviour before her and stopped the lift only after the student screamed,” a student said.

Students who had protested inside the campus on Thursday night alleged that the warden and administration have “blamed their dress” instead of acting against the accused. The students had assembled in the hostel premises on Thursday night and held protest for a few hours.

Police said Arjuna, who hails from a near-by village, was arrested on Friday morning based on a complaint from the university authorities.