Lucknow witnessed yet another disturbing case of campus violence after a shocking video surfaced on Friday, showing a student being repeatedly slapped and humiliated inside a car by his peers from the same private university.
The video, nearly two minutes long, went viral across social media, prompting swift police action.
Authorities have booked five students—including the woman seen leading the assault—under multiple sections of the IPC, including voluntarily causing hurt, rioting, mischief, and criminal intimidation.
While no arrests have been made so far, police confirmed that an investigation is underway to identify the exact chain of events that led to the violence.
What the Video Shows
The viral footage captures the complainant’s son, a law student at the university, seated helplessly in the rear seat of the car.
Flanked on both sides by two youths, the student is slapped repeatedly by a woman and another man seated in the front.
All the while, the victim is verbally abused and humiliated. A fifth student, positioned behind, records the entire incident on a phone, turning the ordeal into a spectacle of cruelty.
According to the FIR, the accused slapped the student 50–60 times during the 45-minute ordeal.
The Complaint and Background
The victim’s father complained late Friday night after the video went viral. He said his son had gone to the university with a friend in a car on August 26, when the accused approached them under the pretext of a conversation. Once inside the vehicle, they allegedly began abusing and threatening him.
The victim, still recovering from leg surgery in June and walking with a stick, was unable to defend himself. When he pleaded to leave for his class, two of the accused assaulted him repeatedly.
The complaint also notes that the attackers broke the victim’s phone after deleting his chats, adding another layer of intimidation. Before letting him go, the group allegedly threatened him with dire consequences if he returned to the university.
Police Investigation
Assistant Superintendent of Police Vinay Kumar Dwivedi confirmed that the matter stemmed from a dispute among students, but the motive is still unclear. Investigators are probing what provoked the violence and whether the attack was premeditated.
The victim’s father has demanded strict legal action against the accused as well as measures to ensure the removal of the viral video from online platforms, which continues to add to his son’s trauma.
Larger Implications: Campus Safety and Social Impact
Incidents like this raise troubling questions about student safety in universities and the growing culture of public shaming through social media. Beyond the immediate assault, the humiliation caused by recording and sharing such videos can leave long-lasting psychological scars on victims.
- Impact on Victims: Students who are targeted often develop trauma, lose confidence, and may withdraw from academics, directly affecting their careers.
- Campus Environment: Such episodes create fear among the larger student community, undermining the sense of security within educational spaces meant to foster learning.
- Social Consequences: Viral videos of violence normalise aggression and may even encourage copycat behaviour, leading to a cycle of abuse.
- Legal Consequences: Those responsible face serious criminal charges that can not only lead to imprisonment but also destroy their academic and professional futures.
Universities, experts say, must strengthen grievance redressal mechanisms, create awareness about cyber laws, and coordinate with law enforcement to deter such behaviour.
A Call for Accountability
This incident serves as a stark reminder that unchecked campus rivalries or personal disputes, when combined with digital misuse, can spiral into full-blown social crises. As the police probe continues, families, educators, and authorities alike are left grappling with how to prevent such shocking displays of violence from becoming the new normal.
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