KIIT University Clashes: City Commissioner Refutes Sec 144 Rumours

The violence started after simmering tensions over lewd comments passed to a female student the previous day.

Violent clashes broke out between the Law School and Engineering department of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Bhubaneshwar on 24 November after simmering tensions over lewd comments passed to a female student the previous day.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

The Twin City Police Commissioner of Bhubaneshwar, Satyajit Mohanty, on Monday refuted the rumours of a KIIT student sustaining serious injuries, contrary to what the visuals have shown, OTV News reported.

He also said that Section 144 has not been imposed in the campus.

Five people were detained after clashes broke out between the Law School and Engineering departments of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Bhubaneshwar on Saturday, 17 November. Both schools were been closed and hostels have were evacuated till further notice, news agency ANI reported.

The clashes broke out on 24 November after simmering tensions over lewd comments passed to a female student the previous day.

On the evening of 23 November, a second-year B-Tech Mechanical Engineering student allegedly harassed a final-year female law student. Following the incident, the law student and her batchmates protested at the BTech hostel and demanded an apology. The accused apologised by the end of the day.

However, the next day, hundreds of engineering students reportedly entered the Law School with beer bottles, sticks, bats, stones and even knives with an intention to damage the school and cause harm to the students.

According to a civilian activism platform Arguendo, the incident continued for over an hour and even entered one of the hostels, where unaware law students were brutally assaulted.

Scenes From The Riot

Eventually, the word spread and the violence broke out into a full-fledged riot, with the panic spreading to the locals. According to Odisha Bytes, during the clash, vehicular traffic between Big Bazaar Square and Sikharchandi was disrupted.

Bhadra Mahapatra, amongst other students and ex-students of the college, took to social media to create some noise about the horrific event, otherwise uncovered by mainstream media. She wrote: “The name of the molester [because of whom the whole incident started] is Rakesh Rathore...”

Reportedly, the police arrived to take control of the situation after one and a half hours. As per several reports by students and alumnus of the college, over 40 students (both law and BTech) have been hospitalised with at least one student being in the Intensive Care Unit with a serious head injury.

Rumours are strife within Whatsapp groups of the college with both sides alleging that the violence was initiated by the other side first. By Saturday night, Section 144 had been imposed on the campus and the State Reserved Protection Force was deployed.

(Photo courtesy : Twitter)

Broken glass at the KIIT Law school. (Photo courtesy: Facebook/Bhadra Mahapatra)

(Photo courtesy : Twitter)

(Photo courtesy : Twitter)

(Photo courtesy : Twitter)

(Photo courtesy : Twitter)

According to Arguendo, FIR No. 203/18 has been lodged before the Infocity Police Station. The Quint tried calling the KIIT University head office for clarifications but received no response.