A second-year MBBS student from Kashmir studying at Al Ameen College in Karnataka has alleged that he was brutally beaten and harassed by a group of senior students, NDTV reported.
The incident has once again raised concerns over the safety of Kashmiri students pursuing education outside their home state.
Recounting his ordeal, the student said he had never expected such an incident to happen in Karnataka, believing the people there to be “intelligent” and capable of distinguishing right from wrong. However, he now feels he was “100% wrong.”
The student, who had been appointed as the captain of his batch’s cricket team, said that the conflict started after discussions regarding team groupings for an upcoming tournament. He mentioned that certain seniors were displeased with the tournament arrangements and targeted him for no apparent reason.
“As I came to the ground today, I was observing the weaknesses of the other teams in our poll when one guy told me to stay outside. After the match, two seniors came to me and started harassing me. I didn’t react, but then they called more batchmates, and I was brutally abused in the playground,” the student recalled.
According to his account, the group of seniors forced him to apologize despite him insisting that he had done nothing wrong. He alleged that they even tried to coerce him into getting into a car, which made him fear for his safety. Sensing danger, he began recording a video for his protection and left for his hostel. However, the ordeal didn’t end there.
“Six to eight people entered my hostel room and started bashing me. They forced me to say ‘sorry’ on video and threw things at me,” he said.
Expressing his distress, he questioned the safety of Kashmiri students outside their homeland. “Wallahi, I can’t feel safe here,” he wrote, emphasizing that he had secured his admission on merit through the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) and was not studying under a management quota.
The student, overwhelmed by the incident, struggled to tell his mother about the attack during a video call. “I was upset, but I couldn’t even say that I was beaten here,” he shared.