PUDUCHERRY: It was a double-ordeal for an American student who was here for a short-term course at Pondicherry University . Faced with sexual harassment, the 19-year-old, who had arrived on July 16, decided to return home within four days.

She was allegedly molested by a guard on the university campus on Wednesday. Traumatized, she decided to fly back home, but on her way to the airport she was molested again by the driver of the taxi she had hired. The police have arrested the security guard and the taxi driver. On Wednesday, A Sowhar Rahman (20), a guard from Assam who was posted in the women’s hostel, approached the girl requesting her to charge his cellphone, saying that he was expecting an important call.

"The girl took his mobile phone into her room to charge it. A few minutes later, Rahman, under the pretext of taking back his mobile phone, entered the women’s hostel, barged into the girl’s room and attempted to molest her," said SP (north) NT Sivadasan. She managed to escape and raised an alarm. The girl did not file a complaint and decided to leave the country.

She hired a taxi for Chennai airport the same night. Police said the driver stopped the taxi at several places, telling the girl that the engine had developed a snag. But whenever he stopped the vehicle, he would try to molest her, police said.