Four international students from Parul University in Gujarat's Vadodara were brutally assaulted by villagers for allegedly smoking near a dargah while wearing slippers on Monday.
Videos of the incident have surfaced on social media, showing villagers beating the students with sticks and a cricket bat. One video shows a man hitting an unconscious student lying on the ground with a stick.
According to reports, one of the students sustained serious head injuries along with wounds on his hands and legs during the attack.
The police have arrested five people and detained two minors for assaulting the students, reported PTI.
According to the FIR filed in the case, the four students who were attacked are from Thailand, Sudan, Mozambique, and the United Kingdom.
Reports indicate that a villager had warned the students not to walk near the dargah wearing footwear, but the students could not understand him as they did not know Gujarati.
Fortunately, three students managed to escape, while one student from Thailand sustained severe head injuries after being brutally assaulted.
He was later admitted to the emergency ward of Parul Sevashram Hospital.
An official from the Waghodia police station told news agency PTI that five individuals — identified as Mukhtiyar Sheikh, Rajesh Vasava, Ravi Vasava, Swaraj Vasava, and Pravin Vasava — have been arrested, and two minors have been detained in connection with the attack.
According to the university official's complaint, four international students from Parul University were attacked by approximately 10 villagers wielding wooden sticks, cricket bats, and stones while walking to a pond near their hostel in Limda village after withdrawing money from an ATM.
The FIR details that the students visited a dargah during their walk, where a local man instructed them in Gujarati not to wear shoes in the area. Unable to understand the language, the students didn't comply with his instructions. This prompted the man to become aggressive, shouting and pushing them. Subsequently, around ten villagers rushed to the scene, verbally abusing the students who attempted to flee.
As stated in the FIR, while the students were running back toward the university, the mob captured Annrattana. After being alerted about the incident, university security personnel rushed Annrattana to the hospital.
A Waghodia police station official confirmed that the villagers has been charged under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for multiple offenses including rioting, unlawful assembly, causing hurt or grievous injuries, endangering human life through reckless actions, criminal intimidation, and intentional insult.
