US student molested on Visva-Bharati campus

SANTINIKETAN: Barely a month after a gruesome murder-suicide, the molestation of an American student on the Visva-Bharati campus has rocked Tagore's abode of peace. The girl, part of a 10-member excursion team from the US, was assaulted on Tuesday when she was visiting Kalo Bari (the Black House) near Sangeet Bhawan, where Saswati Pal, who was shot by her jilted lover on January 7, studied. Charlotte Hale and her friends were about to enter Kalo Bari when a drug-crazed youth pounced on her. Her screams drew the attention of security guards who pulled the attacker away from Charlotte and held him until police arrived. He was later identified as Sunny Mishra - a local rowdy who had stabbed a traffic policeman in Santiniketan a year ago. Luckily for Charlotte, security had been beefed up after the Saswati Pal murder and the guards were standing a stone's throw from Kalo Bari - at Ananda Sadan hostel, where Saswati was killed. An official of the organization that has brought the eight girls and two boys to Santiniketan filed an FIR with Bolpur police. "We have received a complaint of molestation. Sunny Mishra was under the influence of drugs. Last year he had injured a policeman with a knife. Our officers went to the hotel and talked to the girl and other members of the team," said Bolpur SDPO Debashis Dhar.