Five held for assaulting student at private business school in Hyderabad
While the student claimed he was beaten up for making derogatory comments about the Prophet, the police said it is related to remarks about his ex-girlfriend.
Five students were taken into custody on Saturday from a private business school in Telangana’s Hyderabad for assaulting a student and forcing him to chant religious slogans, NDTV reported, citing the police.
Himank Bansal, a student at the ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education in Hyderabad, claimed was beaten up for making derogatory comments about Prophet Muhammad on social media. The incident took place on November 1.
Video Of Student's Assault In Hyderabad Hostel Goes Viral, 5 Detained https://t.co/EMyCl2e8XP pic.twitter.com/EriNiRw1eW
— NDTV (@ndtv) November 14, 2022
In a video widely shared on social media, Bansal was heard shouting ‘Jai Mata Di’ and ‘Allah-hu-Akbar’ slogans. He was then slapped and kicked by a group of students.
“We want to fix his ideology,” one of the students can be heard saying in the video. “We will beat him into a coma and he will remember a whole new world.”
The student also took out his wallet and told another to take all the money he wants.
In his complaint to the police, Bansal alleged the accused students also took a photo of him and uploaded it on social media.
“They informed me as they left that if I reported it to college authorities, I would be removed from the university’s grounds and my body would be disposed of,” he said, according to The News Minute.
On Friday, the Hyderabad Police booked 12 students in the case, according to the Hindustan Times.
They were charged under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 323 (voluntarily causing injury), 450 (trespassing into a house), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 r/w 34 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, besides Section 4 (i)(ii) of Telangana Prohibition of Ragging Act.
Shamshabad Deputy Commissioner of Police R Jagadishwar Reddy, however, said that Bansal was assaulted for a matter related to his former girlfriend.
“The student allegedly made some comments about his ex-girlfriend...and she shared the chat with other students at the college, which led to the assault,” he said, according to the newspaper.
Bansal also said that the police are looking for the remaining suspects involved in the incident, and added that all 12 accused students have been suspended by college authorities.