Every year Karnataka throws open its doors to a large number of students from other states and abroad. But after two students from outside the state studying in two prestigious engineering colleges of the city were allegedly murdered, the spotlight has turned on the alleged harassment and discriminating these students often confront. Experts in the field warn that such incidents could put off other students from coming to Karnataka from abroad and elsewhere in the country.
The cases that made news
12.9.2011
Okoye Emmanuel Chira, a Nigerian second year BCA student of a college in Koramangala , arrested for producing fake certificates, died on his way from Parappana Agrahara prison to Nimhans. It was alleged the jail staff didn't sent him to hospital until he fell unconscious and a couple of weeks later his brother, Cheeca Daniel charged he had been poisoned in jail. "No one treat us like students. The Bengaluru police and educational institutions look at every African student as a drug peddlar or smuggler. But the only difference between other students and the African ones is the colour of their skin," he told the media, holding the police and prison officers responsible for his brother's death.
Status: Following the incident a foreign students cell was set up in the education department to adddress their problems.
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19.4.2012
Richard Loitam (19), a second year Manipuri student of architecture at the Acharya Institute of Technology (AIT), died in a private hospital in the city. At first it was claimed he had succumbed to injuries he had received in an accident, but later it was alleged he was beaten to death by two of his classmates. Following the widespread protest by students from the North East studying in the city, the police took the case a lot more seriously. The protesters claimed not only Richard, but they too were all victims of racism. Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh later met his Karnataka counterpart, D.V.Sadananda Gowda in New Delhi to ask for a high level investigation into the circumstances leading to the student's death.
Status: The case is still under investigation and the state government has directed all colleges to overhaul their hostel administration.
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12.5.2012
Alok Ranjan (20), a civil engineering student of Nagarjuna College of Engineering was found dead on the railway tracks in Devanahalli taluk, Bengaluru rural district. While the police claimed he had committed suicide, his friends and relatives alleged he was ill treated by the college management as he was from Bihar in north India and they themselves were thrashed by the police and a few locals while holding a protest against it. Hundreds of students of the college agitated in the city Monday afternoon, demanding an impartial probe into his death.