Six students of Kerala college arrested for physical assault of junior student over Insta post

Kochi: Six students of a private college in Kozhikode district of Kerala were arrested on late Tuesday night for alleged ragging and physical assault of junior students within the college premises, police said on Wednesday.

The incident of assault took place at the MES Arts and Science College in Chathamangalam on Monday when a group of second-year male students barged into a classroom and beat up several junior male students, one of whom sustained serious injuries and has been admitted to the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital.

An FIR has been registered based on the complaint of the injured student, police said.

“It’s a case of physical assault by several senior students of their juniors within the college. After we took the statement of the complainant, we identified six accused and arrested them last night. Today, they have been taken to be produced before the court,” said an officer at the Kunnamangalam police station where the FIR was registered.

The accused were identified as Mohd Sinan (20), Mohd Ajnaf (20), Nousheel Rahman (22), Mohd Anas (21), Mohd Shafeer (20) and Mohd Jasim (21).

“They have been charged under various offences including rioting, unlawful assembly, causing hurt using dangerous weapons and attempt to murder,” said the officer.

The accused students, all of second-year, have also been suspended from the college which has formed a committee to probe the incident.

A student told a local TV channel that the provocation for the assault was an Instagram post that had been put up by one of the junior students which the accused wanted to be deleted. “The photo put up on Instagram was taken by one of us from the college terrace. The seniors wanted the photo to be deleted. They even sent an audio clip on WhatsApp threatening assault if the photo was not deleted,” the student said.