Student Assaulted for Skipping Regular Ambedkar Puja in Kalaburagi
The peace of Kalaburagi, a city in Karnataka, India, was shattered on January 25, 2024, when a Pre-University student was assaulted and paraded semi-nude. The reprehensible act was a reprisal for the student’s refusal to partake in the weekly Dr. B.R. Ambedkar puja for personal reasons. This incident occurred mere days after the city was rocked by spontaneous protests against the desecration of an Ambedkar statue. The news comes from an innate source in Reader Wall.
About the Victim and the Incident
The victim of the assault is a 19-year-old student of N.V. College, pursuing a science program. He is a resident of the government-run post-metric hostel located behind the High Court complex in the city and belongs to the Lambani community. Its alleged that fellow students, indignant at his declining to attend the weekly Ambedkar Puja, perpetrated this disgraceful act.
Event’s Development and Consequences
According to a complaint lodged by the victim’s father, Neelakanth Rathod, the boy was asked by his fellow hostellers to attend the Ambedkar puja late on Wednesday. When the complainant’s son explained that he had other commitments, the informant students, joined by others from nearby colleges, reportedly reacted with fury. They verbally abused him, physically assaulted him, stripped him of his clothing, and paraded him in a semi-nude state on the streets. When the students noticed the police near the High Court, they fled the scene, abandoning the humiliated boy.
The incident was further amplified when a video showing the boy being paraded half-naked while holding a portrait of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar went viral. On learning of the appalling episode, Rathod, who at that time was at his native place, Patwad Tanda in Kamalapur taluk, hurried back to Kalaburagi where he lodged a complaint at Ashok Nagar Police Station. Consequently, First Information Report was registered under Sections 341,323,504,505(2), 506, and 149 of the Indian Penal Code.
Related Topics
- Universities and colleges
- Karnataka
- Parties and movements
