Mangaluru: Students in FB photo suspended, committee to probe incident
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Updated
Mangaluru, Feb 23: In a fresh development, the students who were involved in the controversial photograph uploaded on Facebook, where a boy was seen lying on the laps of five girls in a classroom, have been suspended from the college.
They are students of final year BCA at Govinda Dasa College, Suratkal. However, Riyaz, who was only seen sitting in the photo on the extreme left, has not been suspended.
Moreover, a committee will probe the incident.
In a letter to the student welfare officer of Mangalore University to which the college is affiliated, principal Prof K Rajamohan Rao stated that in order to enquire into the matter, a committee was constituted comprising senior staff members of the college as well as its director of administration.
The students involved in the incident and their parents were called to the college on Monday February 23. The committee, after enquiring them, decided to suspend the students until further orders in the first instance, and refer the matter for further action to a separate committee comprising representatives of Mangalore University and the management, states the letter.
The principal has also requested the student welfare officer of the university to nominate a member of the university to be part of this committee.
The principal in his letter said that the photo's appearance in the social media has created a 'lot of emotional outbursts among students and members of the public'.
Speaking to daijiworld, the principal said that the five girls and the boy lying on their laps have been suspended, but not Riyaz. However, Riyaz has been asked to appear before the committee on February 26 to give his statement. "There have been demands to debar the students, but we cannot do it without an inquiry. Hence the committee will be formed and the issue brought to the notice of Mangalore University and the management," he said.
ABVP protest
Meanwhile, members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a protest in the college campus demanding debarment of the students involved in the incident.
No classes were held during the morning as ABVP along with the college students protested. Students from an another college also joined the agitation.
The ABVP warned that the protest would be intensified if the demands were not met.
The principal then held a meeting in the presence of the police and informed the protestors that the college cannot debar the students without inquiry and that the decision to debar was in the hands of the university.
He said the students have already been suspended and further action would be taken by the Mangalore University after a probe by a committee. He added that a letter in this regard has already been sent to the university.
After assurance from the principal, the protest was withdrawn and classes resumed in the afternoon.
ACP Ravikumar and tahsildar also visited the college.
Earlier Update
Mangaluru: FB photo case - 6 detained, police warn against social media misuse
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)
Updated: Feb 23
Mangaluru, Feb 23: Relating to the incident in which a BCA student named Riyaz was taken away in connection with a Facebook post in which his male classmate is seen lying on the laps of some girls, it is gathered that some of the persons who beat up Riyaz have been detained.
Police sources said that six youths have been detained in connection to the incident, but refused to divulge their names. They are being questioned and by evening clearer details may emerge, sources said.
Realizing the sensitive nature of this case, deputy commissioner of the city commissionerate (law and order), Santosh Babu, and Panambur assistant commissioner of police, Ravikumar, have been camping in Suratkal police station to guide detailed investigation into the incident.
Santosh Babu invited leaders of some organizations to the police station to hold discussions on the incident. He told them that he would be taking action against people indulging in making malicious posts in social media. He said that the act of spreading false information through these sites and creating wedge between different people is totally unjustifiable.
The DCP further said that he would be issuing strict instructions to all the police stations within his jurisdiction, seeking the police to discharge duties during night shifts without fail. He also wanted everyone moving at night to possess identity cards.
In the meanwhile, student organizations of a college here said they would be handing over a memorandum to the principal on Monday seeking detailed investigation and initiation of strict steps against the guilty.
Earlier Report: Feb 22
Mangaluru: Boy's pic with girls on Facebook - Classmate kidnapped, thrashed
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (DV)
Mangaluru, Feb 22: A youth was allegedly kidnapped and attacked at Suratkal here on Sunday February 22, over a photo on Facebook where his classmate is seen lying on the laps of five girls. The photo, taken in a college classroom and uploaded on Facebook, has created a flutter, prompting police inquiry.
However, the youth who was attacked, identified as Riyaz, was not the one the lying on the girls'' laps, but his classmate. Nevertheless, Riyaz is seen in the photo sitting on the extreme left.
On Sunday at around 11 am, two of Riyaz''s friends, Ritesh and Vineeth came to his residence at Kana in Suratkal and said he should remove the photo which is also making rounds in WhatsApp. They said they wanted to resolve the issue and took him out.
As the three were coming out of the house, a car came there, and Riyaz was allegedly forced into the car, which then sped away. He was taken to Muddanna ground at Katipalla, where a group of around 15 persons were lying in wait. Riyaz was then thrashed and he was also allegedly made to remove his clothes and consume drinks.
The group of youths demanded to know the whereabouts of the boy who posed lying on the girls'' laps, but Riyaz said he did not know anything about him. The boy in the photograph has been identified as Mohammed Swali.
Sources said that another car came there and took Riyaz away. He was then thrown out of the car outside NIT-K.
Thereafter, Riyaz called up his father who was at that moment filing a missing complaint about his son in the police station. His father later admitted him in hospital.
The police are understood to have taken statements of Riyaz and further investigations are on. An attempt-to-murder case has been registered in Suratkal police station.
Riyaz and Swali are students of BCA.