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Bengaluru, May 22: Karnataka reported 138 fresh cases of coronavirus on Friday, taking the state tally to 1743.

26 patients have been discharged on Friday and in total, 597 people have been discharged in Karnataka while total number of active cases in the state is 1,100. 41 people have succumbed to the virus, informed the state health department.

Out of the 138 cases, 111 are returnees from Maharashtra.Out of the 138 cases, 47 are from Chikkaballapura alone, 10 cases from Raichur eight cases each from Bidar and Mandya, five cases each from Bengaluru Rural and Bengaluru Urban, and 14 are from Hassan.

From Bengaluru Rural, three patients are returnees from Maharashtra. A fifty-five year old female from Bengaluru Rural, has contracted the virus and has been diagnosed with a history of SARI. She is currently under observation at a designated city hospital.

Five patients have tested positive from Bengaluru Urban. A 42-year-old woman tested positive in Bengaluru Urban and has been diagnosed with a history of Influenza-like Illness (ILI). She is currently under observation at a designated city hospital.

Two men, who have tested positive from Dharwad are returnees from Delhi. Both of them are currently under observation at a designated hospital in Hubli. A seventy-five year old male who has contracted the coronavirus has returned from Jharkhand.

Bhuj, Feb 14: In a horrifying incident, as many as 68 undergraduate girls were paraded through their college into the restroom and forced to individually remove their undergarments to prove that they were not menstruating. 

This shameful exercise was conducted at Shri Sahjanand Girls’ Institute (SSGI) in Gujarat’s Bhuj under the supervision of principal and other teachers. 

It all began after the hostel rector complained to the principal that some of the inmates had been violating the Hindu religious norms specifically for menstruating females.

According to the sect’s norms, menstruating females are barred from entering the temple and kitchen. They are even forbidden from touching other students. However, the hostel administration reportedly complained to principal Rita Raninga that some girls who were having their periods not just mingled with other hostel inmates, but also entered the kitchen and ventured near the temple on the premises. 

“It was sheer mental torture and we don’t have words to describe it,” a student who underwent the traumatic experience said, adding that there were total 68 girls who were forced to pass through the test.

“The hostel administration levelled this allegation and insulted us on Wednesday. On Thursday, when we were attending lectures, rector Anjaliben called the principal and complained about this. We were forced to leave our classrooms and queue up outside in the passage. The principal abused and insulted us, asking which of us were having our periods. Two of us who were menstruating stepped aside,” said another victim.

“Despite this, we were all taken to the washroom. There, female teachers asked us to individually remove our undergarments so they could check if we were menstruating,” she added.

Another teenage undergraduate said, “We come from farflung villages. The college campus houses a school that runs classes from Class 1to 12. They provide hostel facilities to the school students. The college does not have its own hostel. We live with the school-kids in their hostel.”

She added, “The principal, hostel rector and the trustees harass us regularly over the issue of menstruation. We are punished for having periods. This happens even if we follow their religious rules. They made us remove our undergarments because they thought some of us were lying about not having periods, and mingling with the others against rules. But the humiliation meted out to us on Thursday was the last straw. When we protested against this, trustee Pravin Pindoria told us that we could take legal action if we wanted but we would have to first leave the hostel. He also forced the students to sign a letter saying nothing happened in college. But enough is enough.”

Kutch University authorities have, meanwhile, swung into action and a five-member team including in-charge vice-chancellor, Darshna Dholakia, and two other senior female professors visited the college on Thursday. “We will speak to the students and the college authority and later initiate appropriate action based on the findings,” Dholakia said.

Run by followers of Swaminarayan Mandir, the college was set up in 2012 but moved into a new building on the premises of Shree Swaminarayan Kanya Mandir in 2014. The college which offers BCom, BA and BSc courses has about 1,500 students of which 68, who come from remote villages, stay in the hostel on campus. The college is known for its pro-Hindutva stance.