Kochi: Ernakulam Law College has suspended its student for misbehaving with actress Aparna Balamurali while she was promoting her film on campus. Second-year student Vishnu was suspended for a week on Friday.
Aparna along with her co-actor Vineet Sreenivasan was at the college campus to promote their film 'Thankam'. During the function, the student rushed to the stage and handed a flower to the actress who was sitting. After she accepted the flower, he grabbed her hands and forced her to stand up. Then, he tried to put his hands on her shoulder to take a photo. The actress refused and moved away from him and went back to her seat.
Aparna said that it is a serious issue that a law college student did not understand that it is wrong to touch a woman's body without her permission.
The incident was caught on camera and it went viral on social media. When the student first approached the actress, a set of people was heard cheering. One of the organisers apologised for the untoward behaviour at which the student again came forward and tried to shake Aparna's hand. She again refused.
The Ernakulam Law College Union also apologised for the incident and said it is "deeply sorry for hurting the actress" and added that it is being viewed as a very "grave" issue. Later the educational institute suspended him for a week.