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A dispute between members of the right-wing student organisation Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), and Congress’ student wing National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) escalated into violence at the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) in Hyderabad.
NSUI members have alleged that a group of ABVP cadres attacked them with iron rods, bamboo sticks, beer bottles, and belts in one of the men’s hostels, and used abusive casteist slurs, in the early hours of August 14.
Complaints were lodged by both sides at the Osmania University police, who said that a total of 14 men were taken into custody from both sides over the violence. Of them, seven ABVP members were sent to judicial custody.
According to the complaint filed by NSUI member Nikhil Kumar (18), a second-year BA French student, the violence was triggered by an incident during a students’ protest at the Mahlaq Bai Chanda Hostel for Women around 10.30 pm on August 13. There, Nikhil alleged that the accused Viswajeet Singh, Pranav Pathak, Rishabh Singh, Rudra, and other ABVP cadres used casteist slurs to abuse his friend, Rishit Naik, and physically assaulted another NSUI member, Sonu Raj.
The NSUI members went to the OU police station to file a complaint over this incident, according to Nikhil. Later, around 4 am, he alleged that the accused ABVP members entered his room in Basheer Hostel for Men. They were allegedly carrying iron rods, bamboo sticks, beer bottles, belts etc. and attacked the NSUI members with these weapons.
The complaint alleged that a student named Harsh Tambrakar was beaten with a beer bottle on his head and neck, resulting in heavy bleeding. The accused allegedly beat another student, Sohil Yadav, with an iron rod and broke a mirror on his face. Another student, Prashanth Singh, was also beaten with bamboo sticks, it said, for filing a complaint against them. The complaint alleged that the accused threatened the students not to work with NSUI, and used vulgar language to speak about their women friends.
The ABVP members also filed a complaint alleging that it was the rival group that attacked them first. The complaint by a student named Rishabh Kumar alleged that a group of more than 20 people entered his room and beat him with a belt and an iron rod, threatening him to leave the campus. The complaint named Harsh Tambrakar, Sohil Yadav, Prashanth Singh, Sonu Raj, Rishit Naik, Ashish Kumar Yadav, Nikhil Chaudhary, Vikash Yadav, Galib, Ujjawal Srivastava, Vivek Singh Gujrar, Mohit Singh, Aamir, Vikash Tetrawal, Abhishek Kumar and others.
The ABVP members were charged with voluntarily causing hurt using dangerous weapons, mischief, criminal intimidation, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, words intended to insult the modesty of a woman, and rioting.
The NSUI members were also charged with voluntarily causing hurt using dangerous weapons, wrongful confinement, trespassing, criminal intimidation, and rioting.