FIR filed for caste abuse allegation at Jamia Millia Islamia polytechnic
text_fields
The Delhi Police said on Tuesday that they were probing a complaint alleging assault and caste-based abuse at Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) Polytechnic, after a video circulated on social media appeared to show a faculty member kicking a person inside a classroom.
According to the police, a case was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by Ramphool Meena, an upper division clerk at the polytechnic, against Riyazzudin, an associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Hemant Tiwari said an FIR had been lodged at Jamia Nagar police station under Section 3(1)(r) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and Section 115(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and that an investigation was underway.
The police explained that Section 3(1)(r) of the SC-ST Act pertains to intentional insult or intimidation with the intent to humiliate a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe in a place within public view, while Section 115 of the BNS relates to voluntarily causing hurt, Indian Express reported.
They said the complaint, filed on January 19, accused the faculty member of physical assault, the use of caste-based slurs and abuses, and involvement in a scuffle on campus. The police added that the alleged incident was reported to have occurred on January 16.
The police also clarified that the complainant had not made any allegation related to forced religious conversion, and asserted that claims circulating on social media suggesting a conversion angle were incorrect and baseless.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Jamia Millia Islamia told PTI that the university had not received any formal complaint from its employees regarding a physical altercation or a caste-based incident.