Forced Menstruation Check at Bhuj College: Principal and Hostel Rector Suspended

Bhuj: A college in Bhuj town of Gujarat's Kutch district has suspended its principal, hostel rector and peon after police registered an FIR against them for allegedly forcing over 60 girls to remove their undergarments to check if they were menstruating.

Principal Rita Raninga, girls' hostel rector Ramilaben and college peon Naina were suspended on Saturday after the FIR was registered against them, Shree Sahajanand Girls Institute (SSGI) trustee Pravin Pindoria said on Monday.

Apart from these three, a woman, identified as Anita, who is not associated with the college, was also named as an accused in the FIR lodged by Bhuj police.

The accused have been booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 384 (extortion), 355 (assault with intent to dishonour a person) and 506 (criminal intimidation). No one has been arrested so far.

SSGI is a self-financed college, having its own girls' hostel. It is run by a trust of the Swaminarayan Temple, Bhuj. The college is affiliated to the Krantiguru Shyamji Krishna Verma Kutch University.

After the incident came to light, a seven-member team of the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Sunday met the girl inmates the hostel, who were allegedly forced by the authorities to remove their undergarments to check if they were menstruating.

A student earlier told reporters that the incident took place on February 11 in the hostel, located on the campus of SSGI, which offers graduate and under-graduate courses.

She alleged that over 60 students were taken to the washroom by a woman staffer and made to remove their undergarments to check if they were menstruating.

After a probe, Darshana Dholakia, in-charge vice chancellor of the university to which the college is affiliated, had earlier said the girls were checked because the hostel has a rule that girls having periods are not supposed to take meals with other inmates.

The hostel authorities decided to check them after they came to know that some menstruating girls had broken the rule and taken the meal.

The police earlier said that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed, with woman police officials as its members, to probe the incident.