Stalkers steal fun from college fests

For DU girls, college fests aren’t only about their favourite music bands, eclectic dance performances, extended deadlines and fewer classes. For many, these fests also entail being troubled by stalkers who find fests a perfect occasion to hunt for prey. Also, given the climate of fear in the capital after the recent gangrape case, many college-going girls are wary this year and planning to attend fewer fests. “No outsider is allowed to enter DU colleges without showing their ID cards. But that, apparently, isn’t enough to deter these unwanted visitors from chasing girls at college fests. They usually have friends from whom they borrow ID cards and sneak in while the guards and the management is too preoccupied to check carefully. Also, not all of them are outsiders. Even a lot of DU guys create a nuisance for that matter. So, our group generally avoids going to college fests or else we ensure that we go together in big groups to avoid the menace,” says Prerna Gautam from Miranda House, DU. “This time, even if I am attending the fests in various colleges, my parents have strictly imposed deadlines on me. We are all scared owing to the increasing crime rate in the capital,” says Vidisha Malik, second year student at Khalsa College. Some girls say they swore off college fests once exposed to its ‘evils’ during their first year in college. They prefer to hang out at relatively safer outlets with their friends during the fests than in their own colleges. “I was pretty excited about my first college fest, but all that changed very quickly. A couple of guys started stalking our group of girls at the first fest and continued for the rest of the year. We found them everywhere — every market, Metro station, college canteens and ultimately we were forced to take outside help to ward them off. This year we just don’t feel like attending any of the college fests,” says Kanika Chadda from Hindu College. Most girls say the stalkers actually come geared with paraphernalia of ‘wooing’ — which includes greeting cards, chocolates, and other ‘cheesy stuff’. “I was attending a concert by Indian Ocean at north campus. Suddenly while everybody was clapping and cheering, a guy came up and whispered chiched sweet nothings to me. He used to constantly wait for me outside my college. I finally had to inform our hostel warden to put an end to it,” says Poonam Kalra from St Stephens. Guys from the campus, however, advise girls to “dress with caution” in order to keep “evil eyes” at bay. “If you come skimpily clad on a wintry evening, you are obviously inviting the wrong eyes. But I agree that the college management should also ensure that the fests should not come across as mood-spoilers for girls,” says Rohit Unnikrishnan Pillai from Ramlal Ananda college in DU.

Some names have been changed on request