Schoolgirls in Haryana allege daily harassment, ask High Court to provide protection

Five schoolgirls in Haryana have appealed to the high court, requesting protection from harassment they have to undergo everyday on their way to school.

Girls from a government school in Manesar, from classes 7th to the 12th grade, stated that their school does not have sufficient guards and walls, giving easy access to men in the area to harass them.

The government school had earlier witnessed incident of break-in and vandalism too.

According to a report in The Times of India, some 600 girls study in this school which is surrounded by open spaces frequented by men who drink, stare, catcall and even abuse the students.

The school compound consists of a post office, a primary health centre, panchayat building, anganwadi, and a park. The school was forced to shift its games class indoors due to the nuisance created by men loitering there.

"The school premises is being used for non-educational purposes and due to lack of proper boundary wall, the anti-social elements have easy access to the school premises," the petition filed by the students in the Punjab and Haryana High Court earlier this week read.

The students have argued that this violates their Right to Education and that repeated appeals to local authorities have been ignored.

The high court has asked the Haryana government to file a response by August 2.