Female students at Savitribai Phule Pune University have objected to a 10:30 pm entry deadline at the girls’ hostel, saying the rule limits their access to campus facilities and creates unequal conditions compared with male students.
The dispute intensified after an alleged moral-policing incident outside the girls’ hostel. According to the report, two male students questioned a female student about why she was outside at night and whether she had a late-night pass. The university later filed a First Information Report against the two students for criminal trespass after they allegedly entered the girls’ hostel gate illegally and argued with hostel staff.
Students from the girls’ hostel held a protest at a police station before the FIR was filed. They have argued that removing the gender-specific restriction could also prevent similar confrontations outside the hostel.
Tanishka Bhandari, a public health department student and member of the Students Federation of India, said the students were demanding equal rights for women and men living in the university hostels. She also pointed to the operating hours of the Jaykar Library, which remains open until midnight, saying the 10:30 pm hostel deadline makes it difficult for female residents to use the facility fully.
Under the existing arrangement described by the students, women who want to remain outside the hostel until midnight must obtain a late pass. Students said male residents do not face the same practical restriction. Sumedh Chandanshive, an MBA student living in the boys’ hostel, confirmed that there were no comparable time restrictions for male students. He said the university should address safety by making the campus secure rather than placing unequal limits on women students.
Hetavi, a student of the women and gender studies department, said moving from an environment where she could return home without such restrictions to a hostel with a fixed deadline had been difficult. She said women students were paying to use university facilities but could not access the library on the same terms as male students. Political science student Pratiksha Navale described the different rules as inequality being enforced within the campus.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad said it supported hostel entry-time restrictions, but argued that the same rules should apply to both boys’ and girls’ hostels. Nidhi Narang, the organisation’s Pune city joint secretary, said hostel residents should follow common rules to maintain discipline and safety while studying at the university.
Professor Geeta Shinde, recently appointed additional rector of the girls’ hostel after the previous office bearer resigned, said the Vice Chancellor had formed a committee to examine the incident and the subsequent protest. She said the hostel time restriction would also be raised before the committee and that she would provide inputs with the help of students. The committee’s review will determine the university’s next response to the demand for equal hostel access rules.
