Stir over ‘unhygienic’ food and water turns violent at VIT-Bhopal

Student protests at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) Bhopal University over alleged issues with the quality of food and water at the college hostel turned violent in the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, resulting in the vandalism of college property and a bus and a car being set afire, officials aware of the details said.

- Shruti Tomar

Around 1,000 students in the campus, located in Madhya Pradesh’s Sehore district, began their protest on Tuesday after rumours spread about three students dying of jaundice and others falling ill due to “unhygienic food and water”, officials said.

However, university registrar KK Nair dismissed speculations about the deaths, adding that 23 students had been diagnosed with jaundice and were recovering in their hometowns.

“Students alleged that hundreds of their peers had fallen ill and hospitalised due to unhygienic food and water, claiming that when they raised concerns, campus guards assaulted them, sparking the retaliation,” sub-divisional police officer Akash Amalkar said.