Law and Engineering students clash at KIIT, Bhubaneswar

An eve-teasing incident involving an engineering student and a law student at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Bhubaneswar reportedly boiled over into a full blown riot at the campus on Saturday, leaving several students seriously injured.

The fracas is said to have resulted in over 40 students being hospitalised and at least one student being admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with a serious head injury. The riot was reportedly contained only after the deployment of police forces on campus and the imposition of Section 144, CrPC.

Student accounts online point to an eve-teasing incident which took place last Friday as the genesis of the riot. As per reports, a second year engineering student from the hostel situated adjacent to the law campus passed lewd comments at a final year female law student. This prompted several law students to confront the student at the adjacent boys hostel, following which the boy apologised the same evening.

However, the ensuing resentment among engineering students is said to have triggered violent clashes on Saturday morning, with several student mobs attacking each other with bats, bricks, stones and empty glass bottles.

CCTV footage uploaded online shows a group of boys armed with bats and bricks attacking another group cornered in an elevator while hurling verbal abuse.

Another video which has surfaced shows angry mobs attacking each other and boys being dragged by their collars while being hurled verbal abuses (viewer discretion is advised).

Photographs also show broken window panes, bloodied floors and property damage, reportedly a result of the student riots.

As per Odishabytes, the riots also caused traffic obstruction outside the campus, between Big Bazaar Square and Sikharchandi. Arguendo reports that a police complaint has been lodged at the Infocity Police Station, and that one student identified through CCTV visuals has been arrested.

Reports suggest that the administration is attempting to downplay the incident and has been unresponsive to student demands calling for stringent action against the errant students. However, a statement issued by the University today states,

“KIIT has a policy of zero tolerance towards such unruly actions and necessary steps have been taken from the authorities’ side.”

The statement, reported by TOI, was issued while intimating that students of two hostels were vacated following the riots as a precautionary measure.

Feature image courtesy: Twitter

Read the Notification issued by KIIT: