KIIT students allege assault near campus, claim police van present
What's the story
A bunch of students of the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in Bhubaneswar were allegedly assaulted and molested by three unidentified men.
The incident reportedly happened near Khau Gali on Thursday evening and was witnessed by a police van and KIIT security personnel.
Despite their presence, no help was rendered to the victims during the attack.
Legal action
FIR filed at Infocity police station
An FIR has been lodged at the Infocity police station on the basis of one student's complaint.
The FIR has sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to wrongful restraint, obscene acts, causing hurt using weapons, attempt to murder, and outraging a woman's modesty.
The assaulted students said they were kicked on the ground and their clothes torn during the attack.
One alleged she sustained injuries on her private parts in the incident.
Protest involvement
Students involved in protests related to recent campus deaths
The attack happened the same day as alleged suicide of a first-year BTech student from Nepal, Prisha Sah, at the KIIT campus.
This is the second such case involving Nepali students in three months.
The assaulted students were active in protests after alleged suicide of another Nepali student, Prakriti Lamsal, earlier this year.
They feel their involvement in protests could have made them targets.
Assurance
ACP Singh assures thorough investigation into the assault
ACP Sonali Singh has assured a thorough probe into the incident.
"If the assault took place in the presence of police, then we'll investigate that aspect as well, and the cops concerned will be taken to task."
The students were reportedly attacked when they had gone out for snacks at Khau Gali around 5:00pm on Thursday.
The assailants allegedly started with verbal abuse, then turned violent and brandished butcher's knives.
Eyewitness reports
Witness accounts reveal details of the assault
Witnesses have given more insights into the attack.
A fourth-year male engineering student, a native of Bihar, said he had been verbally abused earlier too for being a non-Oriya in the area. However, things escalated quickly when the attackers drew butcher's knives at them, he added.
When one of the female students tried to intervene, she was also assaulted and her shirt torn by the assailants.
Another woman who tried to help was also attacked.