SGGI College, that stripped 60 girls over menstruation, shuts website; Four arrested

Under severe criticism for forcing more than 60 girl students to strip in front of four female staffs including the college principal for checking their menstrual status, the Bhuj-based Shri Sahajanand Girls' Institue (SSGI) on Tuesday shut down its website.

SSGI is a self-financed college run by a trust of the Swaminarayan Temple and is affiliated to the Krantiguru Shyamji Krishna Verma Kutch University. The college offers undergraduate courses in arts, science and commerce streams. The website remained inaccessible since Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, a year-old video of Swami Krushnaswrup Dasji of a Swaminarayan Temple surfaced, in which he claims among other things that "if menstruating women cook, they will be born as bitches." Sources in Bhuj said that Dasji is known for making such speeches in public functions.

Four accused staff members were arrested by the Bhuj Police in Kutch district and have been booked for assault with intent to dishonour persons, criminal intimidation and extortion.

According to the FIR, on February 11, the girls were forced to remove their undergarments in the washroom at the hostel in front of the four accused. The complainant, one of the victims, has said narrated in the FIR that at around 12:30 PM, an announcement was made asking all the girls living in the hostel to the assembly in the passage in front of the office.

The FIR states that the girls were asked to sit in the passage where principal Rita told them that they were not following the "rules made for menstruating girls" and said that action would be taken. She asked the students who all were not following the rules. At that time coordinator, Anita also joined the principal. They asked the students to declare if they were following rules or not.

The FIR says that two girl students stood up and admitted that they were menstruating. However, the principal and the coordinator kept asking other girls the same question and threatened that they all would be checked personally if they don't reveal the truth.

The girl who lodged the FIR, states that she was sitting in the front row. The principal in a threatening manner kept asking her if she was also menstruating and asked her to stand up. Later, all the girls were checking the washroom one by one in front of the four accused.