BAREILLY: Faced with constant sexual harassment by goons waiting at the other side of a river that 200-odd girls from a dozen villages in Bareilly have to cross every day to reach school, the students have decided to choose safety over their much-needed education.

In what many see as a most telling statement on the state of affairs in Uttar Pradesh, around a dozen villages that send their girls to a school in Shergarh, 45 km from Bareilly, have come together to say that they would rather have their daughters go without schooling than subject them to the teasing and often assault that has now been going on for two years.

A bunch of hooligans, who wait at the other side of the river that the girls have to cross, have been making their lives miserable, harassing the students and often even sexually targeting them. Not willing to give up their studies, the girls had been quiet till now, but on Tuesday their parents, helpless at the police taking no action, decided to discontinue the studies of 35 of these girls. The rest said they will follow suit. The girls along with their family members also met Union minister and Bareilly MP Santosh Kumar Gangwar, requesting him to help them so that they don’t have to drop school.

The girls, from Ghatgao Paharpur, Sunder Gotiya, Atalavas, Gotiya Rehmatnagar, Beondha and other adjoining villages under Shergarh police station in Meerganj tehsil of Bareilly, told TOI that though they have to cover a distance of close to 10 km to reach school, they were willing for the “painful trudge”. Not anymore though. “We walk for around three kilometres and reach the river side. Then we cross the one-kilometre long river with the help of a small boat, walk another 2.5 kilometres to reach school,” one of the girls said. “We were ready for all that because of education. But the harassment and torture is getting too much. We are worried, our parents are worried. It’s better not to take so much risk.”

Another student, 15-year-old Roshini Singh, who is in class IX, said, “It is not the long and arduous journey but the presence of the hooligans, who wait at the other side of the river, which has affected our studies. They pass lewd comments on us, throw water on our clothes, try to hold our hands and also abuse us. It has been happening for around two years. As we did not want to compromise with our studies, we first tried to ignore it but as the group of youth continued misbehaving with us, we informed elders at home.” As they are enrolled in three different government and private schools, all across the river, they have varied timings and go in small groups.

Shyamveer Singh, a farmer, who sends his daughter to one of the schools, is a worried man. He said, “We tried to lodge a police complaint twice but they never filed an FIR in this connection. We learnt that these men are residents of neighbouring Tanda village. We tried to sort out the matter peacefully and approached the village Pradhan (headman) and other elders for help several times. Every time they gave us false assurances that the youth mend their ways. Nothing changed and it’s getting worse by the day.”

But with 35 of the parents deciding to withdraw their daughters from school, some of the girls, still dressed in their school uniform, thought they would give it one last push and came to Bareilly to draw the attention of their local MP. “As the police are unable to keep a check on the activities of youth, you will have to do something for us,” they told Gangwar. “Though the state government makes tall claims for security and education of women, no one is bothered with our problem,” said Neha Singh, a class VII student. “Of course, we want to study.”

When contacted, Gangwar told TOI on Tuesday, “It is a serious issue and I have asked the district magistrate and SSP to take appropriate action in the matter.” SP (rural) Brijesh Srivastava, however, had a different version. “The families of the girls had beaten up the youth and also taken away their belongings and hence an FIR was lodged against them on Monday. Later, the parents informed us that the men used to sexually harass the girls. I have directed the circle officer to the meet the girls’ families on Wednesday and take appropriate action after investigating the matter.”