After two days of protests, students of IIT-M who were demanding justice for R Sooraj, reportedly met the director of the institute, Bhaskar Ramamurti, on Thursday.
The director said he would fulfil their demands and a probe panel headed by the administrative dean P Sriram has been formed, reports The New Indian Express.
Sooraj R, a member of the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle (APSC), sustained injuries after he was assaulted on Tuesday, allegedly by eight students of a right wing group, for attending a beef festival.
Protesters also alleged that the attackers have a “history of violent behavior” and that they “are a threat to safety of everyone in the institution.”
Apart from APSC, left students group Revolutionary Student Youth Front (RSYF) and Students Federation of India (SFI) members have been conducting protests at the main gate of IIT-M.
The group has demanded expulsion of the attackers and that the medical expense of Sooraj be borne by the institute.
According to the report, the Director assured the protesters that IIT will foot Sooraj’s medical bill.
In addition to this, the institute has promised that there will be a free and fair probe, where material evidences produced by both sides, including CCTV footage will be scrutinised. Disciplinary action, the director, reportedly said, will be based on the enquiry committee’s report.
Meanwhile, in a video statement to the police, Sooraj claimed that on the day of the incident, a group of eight students, including Manish Kumar, a Master’s degree student with the ocean engineering department, came and sat next to him at the IIT Jain mess.
Manish, Sooraj said, began to ask him his name and other personal details. When Sooraj asked them who they were and why they were questioning him, he was given no reason.
“Do you eat beef?” he was asked.
“Yeah,” he responded.
As he was about to resume eating his food, Sooraj alleges, Manish started hitting him.
“Just when I was about to put the food in my mouth, he hit me heavily on the back of my head.”
Source: The News Minute