The Indian Institute of Technology - Madras has barred a student who attacked one of the organisers of a beef eating protest from the hostel zone and withdrawn his boarding and lodging facility for six months as a disciplinary measure.
The student has been instructed to “enter the campus only with the prior permission from the institute for academic reasons.” A notice has been put up in all hostels on the campus.
A clash had broken out between two groups of students in May after one held an impromptu protest against restrictions on cattle trade by eating beef on one of the institute’s lawns. In the clash, R. Sooraj, a Ph.D scholar, was attacked. He sustained a serious injury requiring a surgery for a broken cheekbone.
The issue became a national controversy with political parties here taking it up. The police booked a case against Manish Kumar Singh and others under four Sections, including rioting, wrongful restraint and criminal intimidation for assaulting.
A case was filed against Sooraj based on a counter complaint by Manish.
Two months later, the IIT-M Hostel Disciplinary Committee informed the students that the attacker had been punished by cancelling his hostel accommodation for six months. The disciplinary committee had reprimanded the students who had been involved in the clash, besides those whose act triggered violence.
In another unrelated incident, the institute took action against a few senior students who had indulged in ragging during the introduction session in July-end.
The institute has asked the parents of these students to meet the dean.
