Two students of Delhi University who are natives of Kerala were allegedly thrashed by Delhi police on September 24 over false accusations.
The students were identified as Aswanth IT and Sudhin K, both enrolled in first year at the Zakir Hussain College, DU. The incident occurred when Aswanth and Sudhin were near the Red Fort, and vendors selling earphones approached them.
The two students declined to buy the earphones. However, Aswanth and Sudhin were accosted by miscreants who falsely accused them of stealing a mobile phone from a shop in Chor Bazaar, allegedly presenting a fake screenshot to convince others.
According to a report by Maktoob Media, when the students sought help from the police and approached constable Ravi Ranga, they reportedly received no help; instead, police allegedly colluded with the mob.
The students were slapped, stomped, stripped and beaten with fibre sticks. Aswanth and Sudhin were also made to sit like “thieves”. “No one came to help us, neither the police nor the public,” Aswanth was quoted as saying by Maktoob Media.
He alleged that even after showing their payment history and other details, the police refused to believe them, and he was slapped for identifying himself as a student and for saying he was from Kerala. When the two students tried to find cover at a police booth, they were further assaulted by an Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI), Sathyaprakash.
The locals also joined the ASI in beating the students. Aswanth added that he and Sudhin were attacked by the police without a formal complaint being lodged against them. Following the assault, the two students sustained bruises and were treated at the Lok Nayak Hospital in Delhi.
Kerala MP reacts
Reacting to the incident, CPI(M) MP John Brittas said it portrays “an alarming picture of bias, brutality, and impunity.”
“Two young students from Kerala were brutally assaulted by a mob and the police in Delhi – beaten on false accusations and for not speaking Hindi, ridiculed for their traditional Kerala attire. This ordeal came from the very same people sworn to protect them,” Brittas said in a post on X.
In his complaint to the Delhi police e Commissioner Satish Gokhale IPS, the Kerala MP urged the commissioner to issue immediate directions for an impartial, high-level investigation into the incident, ensuring that the officers and others responsible for the brutal assault are identified and brought to justice, and that the students’ belongings are recovered and returned.
In it’s statement regarding the incident, the Delhi University Kerala students’ fraternity Maithry extending solidarity with the students said, “This was not merely an assault on two students.” terming it a “deliberate, casteist, xenophobic, and authoritarian display of how the Delhi Police continues to function as an instrument of intimidation against youth, outstation students, and political dissenters.
It further said that forcing students to speak in Hindi, hurling abuse, and permitting locals to attack them in custody is outright police brutality.
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