Mumbai: Fear of Peeping Toms keeps girls from using school toilet

Girls from a Vikhroli school have been facing a peculiar problem for about a week now: they are mortified of using their school toilets. They have alleged that a group of miscreants has been peeping through their toilet windows and photographing them.

Peeping Tom: Man arrested for setting up mobile in women's washroom in Thane

The windows in the girls' toilets only had a metal grille, making it easy to peep inside. After the parents complained about the voyeurs, the school boarded up the windows

The students' parents are unhappy with the school's response to their complaints, as the management is yet to file a police complaint in this regard. When mid-day contacted the parents of the victimized students, they claimed that the school authorities have not done enough to ensure the safety of their students.

A parent of one of the girls said, "On Monday my daughter brought to my notice that she and her friends have been photographed by some boys while they were inside the toilet. Upon checking the toilet window, I found that it was covered with a grille through which one can clearly look inside."

Also Read: Peeping Tom plants camera in clinic's changing room

Another parent said, "My daughter said that when a few of them yelled at the boys and tried scaring them by saying that they would register a complaint, the boys threatened them to upload their pictures on Facebook."

The angry parents had complained to the school about the horrors their daughters were facing, but remain unsatisfied with the school management's response. "When we went and complained to the principal of the school, she claimed that she had learnt about the episode few days ago, after which she informed the local police.

She told us that the police had checked the details but did not find anything amiss," added the parent of another student. The Vikhroli police, on the other hand, said that they only received an application from the school yesterday, and the letter had no mention of harassment faced by the girls.

Senior Police Inspector Dinesh Desai from Vikhroli police station said, "We received the application on Wednesday, and it only mentions that a few boys have been going inside the school premises and destroying school property by throwing stones."

Also Read: Man wanders into school for Aadhar form, molests student in girl's toilet

When contacted by mid-day, a representative from the school said that the school had taken the parents' complaints into consideration and boarded up the windows in the girls' toilets. However, they are yet to lodge a police complaint.

"We have heard what the parents had to say and have asked them to give their complaint in writing. Besides, we have taken their complaint regarding the open grills outside the girls toilets into account but we are yet to close it," the official said.