"College Reels Under Crime Fear"

Repeated instances of snatching and theft at the campus have led to insecurity among women students of Viharilal College of Home and Social Science in South Kolkata. At the college hostel, students are living under constant fear, said a group of students.

"We are feeling insecure on the campus. Incidents of thefts and snatching have increased in the last few months and more and more outsiders are seen on the campus," a student said.

Nearly 10 days ago, an outsider snatched a girl's mobile and ran away. The snatcher also bit the girl on the hand when she tried to resist.

In another incident, some anti-social elements took away iron rods from a construction site in the college premises and threatened the security guard with dire consequences when he tried to stop them.

Interestingly, there is no boundary wall between Alipore Multipurpose Girls High School and the Viharilal College located on 20 Judges Court Road at Alipore, also known as the home science campus of the University of Calcutta. The boundary is demarcated mostly by dense bushes and tress.

According to the students, the school side is vulnerable as outsiders can easily enter and exit from that side.

"We have informed the university authorities about the security lapses. The police are keeping a vigil at night. We hope that the situation will improve in a few days," said Shanta Dutta, principal of the college.

The university authorities are also insisting that barbed wire fencing should be put to guard the boundary of the college.

They said that complaints have been lodged with the police and the local councillor has been approached for help in this regard.