Bhubaneswar: Students of the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) resorted to a road blockade this morning in protest against the alleged ‘rape’ of a girl student of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), which runs out of the high-security campus barely 500 meters away from Infocity police station, last night.
Angry over the ghastly incident, over a thousand students of the institution blocked the KIIT-Sikharchandi road and demanded immediate and strong action against the culprits this morning.
Bhubaneswar DCP Satyabrata Bhoi, however, has flatly denied that any such incident took place. "No such incident took place last night. The concerned girl is safe," he told media persons after preliminary investigation by the police.
Expressing similar views Sucheta Priyadarshini, registrar of KIIT, said, "As per the demands of the agitating students, we are taking steps. Meanwhile, we can say with certainty nothing has happened inside the campus."
The agitating students, a majority of them girls, alleged that though the victim cried for help while being chased and overpowered by the miscreants, the security men didn’t come to her rescue.
“What were the security men doing there? Are they there for our safety or to assist the assailants to commit crimes? How can we say that we are safe here?” asked a student of KIIT.
“Even as the other 2-3 girls, who were eyewitnesses to the incident, screamed for help, the security guards present barely 100 meters away from the place where the incident took place did not act. What security system is this?” asked another visibly angry student.
Sources said the incident happened at around 2 AM when the girl was returning to hostel with her friends. The girls were chased by some miscreants, who took the victim to a nearby lonely place and allegedly raped her there.
The placard-bearing students, braving intermittent rain, demanded that the CCTV footage of the incident must be scanned immediately and the culprits identified.
“Even though the incident happened at 2 AM, the authorities are yet to turn up. How come they become so inhuman?...We want the CCTV footage to be checked thoroughly and the culprit identified,” stated another student.
Some girl students also alleged that they were threatened by the hostel wardens to stay inside their respective rooms lest they will not be allowed to appear in the placement interviews.
The incident incident has raised fingers at the security in an institution of national repute in Odisha.