The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on November 15 took suo motu cognizance of media reports that a student named Himank Bansal of ICFAI Business School in Hyderabad was ‘ragged’, brutally assaulted, and was forced to chant ‘Allah-hu-Akbar’ by a group of students over his remarks on Islamic history in private chat.
“Reportedly, the victim approached the college management but they did not react promptly. A case was registered by the police only on 11th November, 2022 on a complaint by e-mail sent by the victim,” the press release by the NHRC reads.
“The Commission has observed that the contents of the media reports, if true, amount to human rights violations of the victim due to sheer negligence, lack of supervision, and inherent failure of the college administration to ensure the safety and security of each and every student within the campus of IBS College. It appears that nothing has improved despite the UGC Regulation on Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Educational Institutions way back in 2009,” the press release further reads.
The Commission further said that if a slew of measures like regular interaction and counselling of the students to identify an early indication of ragging by holding surprise inspections at hostels, students’ accommodations, canteens, recreation rooms, toilets, etc. were implemented, this unwarranted incident of ‘ragging’ may have been prevented.
The Commission has also issued a notice to the Chief Secretary of Telangana calling for a report within six weeks on the matter. The Chief Secretary has also been asked to explain whether Bansal has been suspended by the college and if yes, in what circumstances.
A notice has also been issued to the Director General of Police, Telangana, regarding the status of the criminal case registered against all the student assailants and teaching / non-teaching staff of the college concerned as reported in the news report.
“Eight students of a business school here were arrested in connection with an alleged incident of ‘ragging’, including a student being beaten up, which assumed a communal colour after a video of it had gone viral. While five were arrested earlier, three were arrested and sent to jail on Monday,” Hyderabad police said.
Earlier on November 1, Himank Bansal was brutally assaulted by some other students of the institute and was forced to chant ‘Allahu Akbar’ for his remarks on Islamic history in a private chat. The attackers had also threatened his family members.
Bansal had named several of the attackers- Mustneer, Umar, Abhishekt, Imadh, Saif Ali Khan, and Sohail- in his complaint with details of their respective actions during the assault.
In his complaint, Bansal said that he had cited references from Islamic scriptures during a private chat with one of his friends from 1st year BA-LLB course, Dipasha Sharma. The girl shared his messages with her Muslim friends who, subsequently, thrashed him on November 1.
