PEC students allege targeted attack at hostel, ‘probe ordered’

A group of Punjab Engineering College (PEC) students filed a complaint with the authorities, alleging mob assault and facing “targeted attacks”. An inquiry into the matter has been marked and is being monitored by the Dean Student Affairs (DSA), highly placed sources confirmed

In the complaint submitted to the DSA and institute director on December 5, a student of Metallurgical and Materials Science Engineering branch alleged some students engaged in a coordinated physical assault. “The accused were found gathering in the Kurukshetra hostel, collecting rods and other weapons to harm. Furthermore, Instagram stories were posted on targeting and harassing a community based on regional basis. During the attack, a victim was beaten severely on the head with a rod, resulting in a deep laceration. His scalp wound required multiple stitches, as confirmed by medical examination at GMSH Sector 16,” read the complaint,

In other complaint, a student added, “There are certain students in my college who repeatedly misbehave, pass derogatory comments and deliberately harass outsiders who come from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. They often surround us and mock us by passing humiliating remarks such as ‘UP Bihar Ke Bhaiyye’, which is discriminatory and mentally disturbing. These students operate as a gang, behave like gangsters, and regularly engage in rowdy and threatening acts on campus.”

The complainant further alleged that outsiders have also been threatened on several other occasions.

“The recent incident took place after a heated argument between two students. As seniors, we tried to reason and informed him that we would raise this issue with the DSA. However, we were attacked and one of the students was brutally hit with hockey sticks. The warden has also witnessed the threatening calls that they were doing after the recent incident,” the student added.

Meanwhile, PEC authorities remained tight-lipped on the issue. While the DSA confirmed of getting a complaint, the official refused to comment claiming the complaint still needs to be authenticated.

The institute director, meanwhile, said he was attending a meeting in Bengaluru and would be able to comment only after getting all information about the allegations.