Mumbai:
Eight medical students, studying at the Grant Medical College attached to JJ Hospital, shamed medical fraternity by "passing lewd comments at their fellow female classmates".
The incident happened when the students were being ferried to Marine Drive in an institute bus to participate in a fashion show as a part of the institute's annual cultural festival
Astitva.
Ironically, the cultural fest brought forth the uncultured or uncivilised face of these undergraduate medical students who did not even think twice before using filthy words against their female classmates.
The matter came to light when the female students complained to girls' hostel warden, Dr Bharti Kondvilkar, who is also the head of the department of anaesthesiology.
Enraged with the uncivilised behaviour of the boys, Kondvilkar along with the harassed girls marched to the dean's office, demanding strict action against the offenders.
Taking cognisance of the complaint, Dr T P Lahane, the dean of the medical college, instituted a two-member committee to inquire into the allegations.
"The girls told me that the male students used foul language and passed lewd comments on them. But they could not open up in front of me and explain the nature of comments. One of the girls handed over a CD asking me to watch it," said Lahane.
He added, "When I saw the CD, one of our students, Gulab Singh, was seen shouting good cervix (neck of the uterus in females) instead of good service. This comment has affected the morale of our female students."
On digging further, the two-member team found that the boys passed personal comments on the girls. "All the comments were below the belt. We never expected that our students would indulge in such dirty behaviour.
Students from other medical colleges also participate in the cultural fest.
So every year, we form a security team, especially to secure the female students, but we were completely shocked to know that our own students were harassing girls," said a senior official at GMC.
Dinesh Tiwari, a lawyer, said, "The punishment depends on the kind of comment. The Maharashtra University of Health Sciences can at the most expel or suspend them.
According to a SC ruling, all the big institutes should have a dedicated committee to deal with such problems."
Dr Lahane said, "We initially were upset with this incident and after inquiry we have planned to take strict action against the boys involved. The girls later came back to me and requested that I should not take any action as it could ruin the career of the accused students."
A senior official added, "We have decided to take stern action as we wanted other students to know that such shameful behaviour is not acceptable in a reputed institute like GMC."