Bhadarwah: Students of a girls school boycotted classes and blocked a busy road on Friday to protest against sexual harassment on the streets.
Nearly 700 students of the Government Girls Higher Secondary School here came out on the roads after their morning prayers and raised slogans against the police and the administration for not taking action against men on bikes, who harass them.
The protesters from the school in Bhadarwah Tehsil, Doda District, said they were subjected to abusive language and were often also physically harmed. They blocked the Domail-Seri Bazaar Chobia link road, disrupting traffic for about two hours.
The demonstrators alleged the police were “mute spectators” to unlawful activities” near the school.
Despite several verbal and written complaints by the school administration, no action had been taken, they said.
A speeding bike hit a XIIth standard student outside the school premises and is being treated for serious injuries at the Bhadarwah hospital.
Later, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Bhadarwah, Imam Din Kichloo, along with Tehsildar Masood Ahmed and SDPO Birjesh Sharma, told the students that security would be tightened and stern action taken against the offenders.
“A police party will be deployed near the school premises and two speed-breakers will also be constructed on either side of the school to check speeding bikers,” the ADC assured the students.