Forget secluded mills and empty train compartments. This is across the road from the Azad Maidan police station.All they were looking for was a harmless game of football. But what the girls playing in the Mumbai School Sports Association Under-16 football tournament at Azad Maidan did not ask for - but are getting plenty of - is harassment at the hands of perverts and drug addicts.The 24-team girls’ tournament, which started on August 27, will go on till September 23. Almost every day, the schoolgirls are subjected to sexual harassment by an assorted bunch of drug addicts, gamblers and louts who assemble at the ground. That the Azad Maidan police station is just across the road doesn’t seem to worry the perverts.MSSA President Fr Jude Rodrigues promised action when this correspondent, who witnessed louts screaming profanities at the girls on Friday, brought the matter to his attention.“We will take strong action against them,” said Fr Rodrigues. “A new watchman will be hired. CCTV cameras are also being installed to ensure foolproof security.”But on Saturday, the thugs were still at it. While some were gambling just behind the team dugouts, others were found making obscene comments about the girls. Fr Rodrigues did not respond to repeated calls and text messages on Saturday.This year’s tournament also has some celebrity kids in the fray. Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter Suhana and the late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's granddaughter Madhuri play for Dhirubhai Ambani International School, while Aamir Khan’s daughter Ira represents Lilavatibai Podar.“There were some men sitting in the stands and passing obscene comments,” said a girl who did not want to be named. “It happens during every game. They sit there and pass comments and scream obscenities. And the way they stare at us is disgusting. Today (Saturday), they were playing cards just behind the dugout. We come here to play, but have to put up with such harassment every day.”Another girl said: “I was not aware about their presence during the match. But when the game ended, I was shocked to see that they were sitting behind the dugout and staring at us. Some were loudly passing dirty comments about the girls.”There has been a growing sense of outrage in Mumbai in recent weeks about the increasing incidence of sexual harassment against women in public places. There has been a clamour for giving the death sentence to the five men who gang-raped a 22-year-old woman in a secluded Mahalaxmi mill. Crime against women is on the rise on Mumbai’s local trains also. In a recent survey, 85 per cent of women said they faced some form of sexual harassment every day on trains and railway stations.MSSA ground staff who Mirror spoke to said they were scared of the drug addicts, who they said were barely in their senses most of the time. “Our ground staff is scared of them,” an MSSA official admitted.“When we ask them to leave the ground, they threaten to beat us up when we step out of the premises. The drug addicts are never in their senses and they always retaliate with threats.”School coaches, however, are not ready to buy these excuses and have demanded immediate action.“The MSSA should do something about the nuisance. The girls play in every corner of the ground, and there is a chance that they may be harmed,” said Amit Patel, coach, Lilavatibai Podar School.Bombay Scottish coach Adeeb Kenkre added, “It is difficult to identify the thugs. Genuinely decent people also come to watch the matches. But the MSSA should identify the thugs and bar them from entering the ground immediately. These are girls under 16 and the MSSA should understand the sensitivity of the matter.”