VIJAYAWADA: Fifty-four students of IIIT Nuzvid in Krishna district have been suspended for thrashing juniors on campus. A 13-member committee set up by the institute to look into the incident recommended the action in a report submitted on Monday. On August 29, a group of fourth-year students thrashed 12 juniors on campus accusing them of being spies of the college management. The vice-chancellor and director of the institute constituted a committee to inquire into the incident.
Six accused of thrashing and intimidating the juniors were suspended for a year and will not be allowed to enter the campus. If they wish to write the exams, they can do so off campus after the completion of the suspension period. Nine students involved in the ragging, but not having caused injuries to the victims were suspended for a year, but will be allowed to write exams on campus. Twenty-four others have been asked to leave the campus for the second and third terms, but will be allowed to write their final exams. Thirteen have been suspended for the second term and two for a week.
Speaking to TNIE, Prof V Venkat Raju, Director of IIIT Nuzvid said, “We constituted a committee with 13 members early this month to probe into the incident. After the investigation, the committee identified 54 students in five categories depending on the severity of their offence and suspended them. As of now, we have taken action against the students who hit juniors. We have forwarded the report to the vice-chancellor who will go through the report this week and take a call on whether the decision should be reversed. He has the right to either decrease the duration of the suspensions or cancel them altogether.”
On August 29, when the incident took place, both the director and vice-chancellor of the institute were on leave. The seniors had allegedly planned the attack when the two were away. Later, the juniors lodged a complaint with the in-charge director who allegedly stopped police from entering the campus.
