Kolkata college student stripped naked: Campaign starts on social media in protest

KOLKATA: The social media went abuzz with hashtag campaigns condemning the incident at a central Kolkata college in which a second-year student was stripped off by a section of alumni after he protested a financial irregularity. Students across colleges started posting that they want punishment for the accused persons. The victim on Monday morning lodged an FIR at the Ahherst Street police station.

Trinamool Congress youth leader Sankudeb Panda on Sunday posted photographs of the letter the victim had written to the college authority. "Junior der jadi aamra suraksha dite na pari tabe ta amader janno marattok habe. Aamra jara jananetrir adorsho mene dol kori tara thakte tomader suraksha r kono bhay nei.” (If we cannot provide security to the juniors, then that will become counterproductive eventually. Those of us who follow ideology of the leader (read Mamata Banerjee) will provide you with the security. You need not be afraid).



In the post, Panda created hashtags that read #Ami tomar sathe #Ora sabbai greptar na howa porjonto lorbo (#I am with you# I will fight till all of them are arrested). After Panda posted the message on Facebook, students across colleges started sharing it demanding punishment for the accused persons. According to sources, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had a word with education minister Partha Chatterjee and asked him to look into the issue. Later in the evening Chatterjee issued a statement promising punishment for the guilty.

The student, who is an office bearer of the welfare committee of the union, had on May 17 approached a few alumni members over some transactions. The members were privy to expenditure towards financial assistance to weak students in the college. When the victim had asked for a detailed account of the expenditure, he was bullied. Some of the alumni members, a clerk of the college and a current student took him to a hall in the college and stripped him off. Some of the accused persons started shooting video in which the victim was seen rushing for his clothes. Roars of laughter by others were also clear in the video which was later made viral among the students of the same college.

On Monday morning the victim registered a complaint with the police and that was turned into an FIR subsequently. Following which hashtag campaigns were renewed again. “#ami kapor chai na#Ami greftar chai (I don’t want clothes. I want the guilty arrested) the campaign read.