Three staff members of Krupanidhi Pre-University College who were arrested for forcing students to remove their sacred thread during the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET), have been granted bail by a local court.
On April 23, the accused, Saritha, Girijamma, and Sudhakar, were arrested after the students complained that they were asked to remove their "janivara" or sacred thread, before entering the examination hall at the college in Koramangala.
“Considering the future implications, if such incidents arise out of misunderstanding or lack of proper awareness, and are dealt with in an excessive manner, it may create an atmosphere of fear among the K-CET authorities and staff in the coming days.
It may also result in officials being placed under pressure and fear while conducting examinations, thereby affecting the smooth and fair conduct of the examination process. Further, for such a comparatively minor issue, keeping the accused persons in jail for several days without there being any allegation of physical violence or serious misconduct, and sending them in judicial custody in undue haste without considering the alternative measures, would not be proper or justified,” said Judge Raghavendra S Channabasappa, while granting the bail on May 11.
The Karnataka Examinations Authority said that the candidates were not required to remove the sacred thread and the examination centres were already informed about this exemption beforehand.
The Bengaluru urban district administration formed a probe committee to investigate the case. The panel concluded that the actions of the staff were intentional. The college was later barred from conducting examinations while the three staff members were suspended pending inquiry.
The Madiwala police filed a case under Sections 299 and 302 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which pertain to deliberate acts intended to outrage religious feelings and intentionally hurt religious sentiments.
This story was written by a student intern working with TNM.
