I was slapped by one of the attackers, just because I asked him why we were being targeted. I am injured in my left ear. Since I had an ear pain, I went to doctors, who told me that there is an injury and asked me to take extra care of my ear for the next four months. I could not attend classes on Monday because of the pain. My friends, family members and college mates and staff know that I have not done anything wrong and have been supporting me. The college principal and other staff came and spoke to me and my friends.
It was horrible. My friends and I were brutally assaulted, though we had not done anything wrong.
I was very disturbed by the incident initially. But not anymore as I believe that we are innocent. We were there only to celebrate a birthday. Why should I be worried?
That day, I went as I wanted to attend my friend’s birthday. Though I was not well, I decided to go as she had attended my birthday party. I went after taking permission from my parents. When it was almost over I called my mom and told her I’d be home soon. I was about to leave when the group barged in and asked us to go inside the home stay. I went inside. When my friends tried to escape they were assaulted. I too was slapped when I asked him why we were being attacked. I could hear someone asking this man not to slap me. The slap was so hard that my ear started ringing and I felt faint.
The boys too were dragged into the same room. After a while, the police took us out of the place. The group robbed my friends and took away the valuables. My friends lost gold, money and also mobile phones.
—Radhika (name changed), a victim
(As told to Gururaj A. Paniyadi)