JNU meat row: Both sides accused each other of pelting stones and injuring their members.
New Delhi:
Delhi police registered separate FIRs Monday on the basis of complaints received by two rival student groups in connection with a clash on the JNU campus over non-vegetarian food served in a hostel mess and alleged disturbance of the Ram Navami puja.
This comes a day after the two groups clashed at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Kaveri Hostel, allegedly over the matter.
Police said on Monday that two FIRs have been registered about the complaints received from both groups and that they have received 20 medical-legal cases so far from the students injured in the violence.
Deputy Police Commissioner (Southwest) Manoj C said they received a complaint early Monday morning from a group of students who are members of JNUSU, SFI, DSF and AISA against unknown ABVP students.
“Therefore, we have registered an FIR under Sections 323 (voluntary harm), 341 (wrongful restraint), 509 (word, gesture, or act intended to offend a woman’s modesty), 506 (criminal harassment), and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of the common intention).
Further investigations are underway to gather factual or scientific evidence and identify the perpetrators,” he said.
The indictment read: “On April 10 at 3:45 PM, the ABVP students attacked the meat seller who brought chicken for dinner at Kaveri hostel and when two members of the mess committee tried to intervene, they were also attacked.
“Around 7:30 p.m., after lengthy arguments and vicious slogans, these crooks began attacking students again, first with their fists and kicks and then with various objects, including stones, bricks, flower pots, rods and tube lamps. Not a single student reached out. to stop this violence, even when many were injured… Even the guards of the cyclops were attacked by these crooks, two of whom were seriously injured,” the message reads.
The complaint also stated that students began to inform the police about the violence from 4 p.m. However, the police said they received the first PCR call around 8.15 pm.
The complainants also accused the police of failing to take action, even when several female students received “death threats and were sexually assaulted in front of police personnel”.
Police said another FIR was registered on the complaint received Monday afternoon from a group of students who are members of ABVP against unknown JNUSU, SFI and DSF students.
“Based on the complaint, we have registered an FIR under Sections 323, 341, 506 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code,” the DCP said, adding that further research is underway to gather factual and scientific evidence and identify perpetrators.
Statements from about 10 students have been recorded, while those from other students who either were victims of or witnessed the violence will be taken under the procedure for further investigation, he said.
All CCTV footage and alleged videos taken by students and others will also be scanned and analyzed to establish the identities of those involved, police said, adding that most of the complaints came from ABVP.
Several alleged videos of the violence have surfaced on social media, including a student, Akhtarista Ansari, who is bleeding on the head.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) claimed Monday that students from left-wing groups wanted to disrupt a Ram Navami puja and use distraction tactics by raising the issue of serving non-vegetarian food.
However, the JNUSU accuses the ABVP of “orchestrating the incident and unleashing violence in the name of food”.
The JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) claimed Sunday that members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad stopped the mess seller from delivering chicken to the mess and attacked him in the afternoon.
However, the right-wing ABVP denied the charges, claiming that “leftists” were obstructing a puja organized at the hostel on Ram Navami.
Both sides accused each other of pelting stones and injuring their members.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
