Indian state investigates ‘police attack’ on female students protesting sex assaults

NEW DELHI: Authorities in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh ordered an investigation into reports that police attacked and beat female students with wooden batons during a protest demanding action after a spate of campus sex attacks.

Scores of students at Banaras Hindu University ( BHU) in the northern city of Varanasi – which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency – began demonstrating on Thursday after a female student said she was molested by three men on the campus.

But violence broke out late on Saturday and reports – including video footage – emerged on social media showing police storming the campus and beating female and male students.

One video filmed on a mobile phone showed police beating a young woman lying on the ground with sticks.

“I haven’t seen the video, but intend to look into it,” Ram Krishna Bhardwaj, Varanasi’s Senior Superintendent of Police told reporters.

“It could have been university security guards as they have a similar khaki coloured uniform as the police have.”

Uttar Pradesh state makes up almost 20 per cent of India’s 1.3 billion people and is ruled by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

The state’s chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, has ordered an investigation, and a magistrate and two policemen have been suspended pending its findings.

Police officials said some of the students threw stones and damaged university property. — Reuters