Dad sees conspiracy in girl hostel ouster

Santiniketan, March 5: The father of a Visva-Bharati student who was forced to vacate the hostel yesterday following alleged threats to her life has accused a section of teachers and students of “conspiracy”.

Dilip Sarkar said that in August last year, he had lodged a written complaint with the Kala Bhavan principal after Rs 14,000 was “stolen” from his daughter’s purse.

Sarkar said that following the complaint, his daughter used to be “mentally tortured” by some seniors at Ananda Sadan, her hostel, and teachers.

Sarkar, who is a teacher in Delhi, said one of the varsity teachers had told him “not to raise a hue and cry” as the “theft was part of ragging”.

“The teacher told me that a picnic would be organised with the money and my daughter would be invited to it,” Sarkar, who too had studied at Kala Bhavan, alleged.

“I presume that my complaint against a senior teacher and a student of Kala Bhavan did not go down well with the other teachers and students. They have all hatched a conspiracy to drive my daughter out of the hostel,” Sarkar said.

The student was asked to vacate Ananda Sadan because of “security reasons” after the vice-principal of Kala Bhavan received “threat calls” from a youth asking the authorities to take action against her for her “questionable lifestyle”. The youth had “threatened to kill” the girl.

Yesterday, the girl vacated the hostel.

Sarkar said a youth “used to disturb her in Delhi”. “That is why I had sent my daughter to study at Visva-Bharati. I never imagined my daughter would face such an ordeal at such a reputable institution,” he said.