In a shocking incident, a minor boy was stripped and paraded naked by a group of students at a government hostel where the victim was staying in Kalaburagi district. The reason behind the incident was that the boy allegedly did not participate in worshipping BR Ambedkar’s photo. It has sparked outrage, and a complaint has been registered against the accused students at the Ashok Nagar police station in Kalaburagi city.
According to the police, the 19-year-old victim, who was studying at a pre-university college, had told a group of students that he would not be attending the worshipping programme last Sunday (on January 25 ) due to some other commitments. The seniors, who were not satisfied with his reason, resorted to assaulting the boy. The situation escalated further when students from other hostels joined with them.
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Student who refused to participate in an event worshiping Ambedkar's portrait was paraded naked on streets by hostel students. Incident reported near Kalaburgi High Court. Case registered at Ashok Nagar Police Station under IPC sections 341, 323, 504, 505(2), 506 pic.twitter.com/zbCIXfQufm— Nabila Jamal (@nabilajamal_) January 27, 2024
The police have obtained video footage of the incident and are currently investigating the case. They booked cases against 15-20 hostel boys under Section 341 (wrongful restraint), Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), Section 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), Section 505(2) (public mischief), Section 506 (criminal intimidation), and 149. of the Indian Penal Code. All the perpetrators and victims are minors, according to the official complaint.
The father of the victim, Neelakanth Rathod, who moved to Mumbai in search of work, explained in his complaint that his son was not only stripped semi-nude but also forced to hold the photo of Ambedkar while being paraded. He alleged that late on January 24, some of the students had requested the hostel residents to come to the weekly Ambedkar Puja which is observed on Sundays. After the footage of the horrifying instance went viral on social media, Neelkant Rathod, who was in his hometown of Patwad Tanda in Kamalapur taluk at the time of the occurrence, was informed of it and promptly hurried to Kalaburagi to file a First Information Report.
The incident took place immediately after protests against the desecration of Dr B R Ambedkar’s statue on January 23 in Kalaburagi. Late on the previous night, vandals had violated the statue of Ambedkar at Lumbini Gardens in Kotnoor (D) hamlet on the outskirts of the city with a garland of footwear.
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