With “another assault” at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.), students have upped the ante for paramilitary protection to the premier science institute.
On Wednesday night, two students, including a girl, lodged a complaint of assault against a group that included the son of a non-teaching staff member on the campus.
The complainants had flagged down Raghavendra, who is the son of a helper in the institute and lives in the premises, for allegedly speeding on the campus and rash driving. This led to an argument and security had to intervene to disperse the two sides after issuing a warning to Raghavendra.
Raghavendra allegedly gathered four of his friends and cornered the students around at 10.30 p.m. and assaulted the boy. He even threatened them with “adverse consequences” if a complaint was lodged.
The incident led to security personnel as well as nearly 50 students descending on the spot and demanding legal action. Eventually, a complaint was filed at the Sadashivanagar Police Station. Raghavendra was arrested on Thursday. He was booked for assault and criminal intimidation. He was later released on bail.
The incident sparked uproar in the student committee. In a post on social networking site Facebook on Friday, the council demanded removal of the chief security officer and removal of people who have “criminal records” from the staff quarters on the campus and replacing the private security personnel manning the campus with Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel.
The demands, they say, come in the backdrop of “numerous similar incidents”. The discussion at the council revealed that in August, one student was assaulted by another employee’s son while another was abused by an autorickshaw driver who almost ran over him. They alleged that the security team had done little to aid the victims in both the cases.
M.R. Chandrashekar, Chief Security Officer, said security has been provided to the assaulted boy as “moral support”. “This is something like road rage and cannot be anticipated. The security has acted as per procedure and even helped contact the police. We cannot take legal action against the accused, as demanded by the students,” he said.
