Thane: A group of National Cadet Corps (NCC) students were allegedly brutally thrashed in rain as part of punishment during training at the Vidya Prasarak Mandal's college in Maharashtra's Thane.
A video of the incident has gone viral on social media showing the inhuman punishment to the students as they were crying for help.
The video shows some students with face down in puddle amid rain were being beaten by a thick rod by an unidentified senior NCC trainer.
Speaking in the matter, Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jitendra Awhad expressed shock over the alleged incident and demanded that the government must take immediate action in the matter.
"This is unbelievable… Such a thing is going on… We demand strict action in this case," Awhad told mediapersons in Mumbai.
According to reports, the Vidya Prasarak Mandal (VPM) authorities or the principals of the associated colleges -- KG Joshi-NG Bedekar College and B.N. Bandodkar College -- were not available for comments.
Locals say that the NCC training is imparted jointly to the students of the three colleges at a common location in the Joshi-Bedekar campus, to prepare them for future prospects with the army and navy.
As per the video at least half a dozen of unidentified students were made to lie down on the ground full of rainwater and muck, or forced to stand in the muddy water, and some senior trainers assaulting them in a bestial manner with a stick.
Students with face down on muddy water thrashed, plead for help
The terrified students are seen crying and pleading but the beatings don't stop in the video-clip, believed to be shot by a conscientious student.
Apparently apprehensive of their academic career, most students and their parents prefer to keep quiet, but now the Joshi-Bedekar College Principal Suchitra Naik has appealed to them to come forward, identify the seniors and lodge complaints.
Inquiry
Condemning the incident amid reports that many students are reluctant to volunteer for the NCC training, Naik said that authorities have started initiating action and nobody would be spared.
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