Karnataka: Activists Stage Protest, Block Road Against Assault On Student Waving State Flag

In the video, a large group of students in uniform can be seen dancing to the music, as one of them raises a Karnataka flag with the hues of red and yellow.

Screengrab from video

New Delhi: Pro-Kannada organisations on Thursday staged a protest and blocked a road for a while at Tilakwadi in Belagavi, demanding action against those who allegedly assaulted a student for displaying "Karnataka flag" during a college fest, news agency PTI reported.

A video of the fight, between the student and the attacking group, has been widely shared on the social media. The incident took place at Gogte PU College on Wednesday.

A 2nd PUC student beaten up for holding #KarnatakaFlag at #Gogte college #Belagavi during inter college fest yesterday. He was beaten up by his classmates for holding the flag. Cops inform the students support #Maharashtra. Hence, they were upset. Cops are inquiring the matter. pic.twitter.com/p5VisPG3Q6

— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) December 1, 2022

In the video, a large group of students in uniform can be seen dancing to the music, as one of them raises a Karnataka flag with the hues of red and yellow. As soon as he does that, some students can be seen pushing and beating him.

Later, the victim-boy is said to have even accused the police of abusing and assaulting him, when he had gone to register a complaint at the police station.

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Some activists, protesting against the incident on Thursday, shouted slogans and burned a tyre on the street as a mark of protest. Some of them staged the agitation in front of the college, even tried to barge in, forcing the police to detain them, according to a police official.

As per police, they are looking into the allegations of the assault at the police station.

According to a report by The Hindu, Belagavi's deputy commissioner of police, Ravindra Gadadi, denied the claims of the assault.

"Allegations of police abusing him are not true. There were also rumors students were divided into two groups... and it is not true as well. All students are Kannada speakers and we learnt the incident erupted when the victim stepped on the toe of another student while dancing," he said.

No arrests have been made on the matter yet and students have been asked to not escalate the issue.

Meanwhile, additional police personnel have been deployed near the college and the surrounding areas to ensure that no untoward incident takes place, officials said.