Bajpe: St Joseph’s PU College principal brutally assaults student for going to masjid

[email protected] (CD Network | Photos by Suman)
July 12, 2015

Mangaluru, Jul 12: In a bizarre incident, the principal of a reputed pre-university college in Mangaluru taluk brutally assaulted a physically challenged orphan student for offering namaz in the mosque and allegedly called him a ‘terrorist’ without any provocation.

College protest 9

17-year-old Siddiq was admitted to a private hospital in Mangaluru for treatment with severe injuries after the shameful assault on the campus on Friday afternoon by Br Hector BN Pinto, the principal of St Joseph's Pre-University College, Bajpe.

It is learnt that Mr. Siddiq lost his father a few years ago and his mother also suffering from high blood pressure and other diseases.

When the elder sister and relatives of the victim visited the college on Saturday and took the principal to task, he openly confessed to the crime and tendered an apology. “I am sorry. I have realized my mistake. I shouldn’t have assaulted him,” he said.

Later, the principal along with a few teaching and non-teaching staff of the college visited the victim in the hospital and directly apologized. “Don’t treat any other student like this,” replied the boy.

Brutal assault

Eye witnesses told Coastaldigest.com that the principal mercilessly thrashed the student on Thursday and Friday despite knowing that the latter was fasting.

“On Thursday afternoon the principal abused Siddiq and assaulted him for being a couple of minutes late to the class. Siddiq told the principal that he had been to mosque to offer namaz. The principal told him not to go to mosque in the afternoon henceforth.

“On Friday afternoon, when Siddiq was returning to the class after praying juma namaz in the mosque the principal dragged him and started beating him. He also banged the boy’s head against the wall. The boy, who was fasting, started vomiting and collapsed,” said one of the students. The principal also hurled abuses and called the student a ‘terrorist’ and ‘ISI agent’,” he said.

Siddiq’s brother-in-law said that after the attack he was taken to a local clinic in Bajpe for treatment. However, the doctor advised to take him to Mangaluru immediately and get him admitted in a private hospital.

Innocent student

Many students in the college and all neighbours of Mr Siddiq said that he was an innocent boy and known for his good conduct. “He never misbehaved with anyone. After his father’s death he became introvert and he always offered namaz on time in mosque,” said one of his friends.

Harassment

The victim, who was discharged on Saturday night, told Coastaldigest.com that the principal has been harassing, abusing and assaulting him for a year without any valid reason. “So many times he thrashed me without any reason. He also used to ask me to clean the toilet in the college and threaten me to issue bad conduct certificate if he failed to do so.

Some of the friends of the victim in the college said on condition of anonymity that this kind of behavior towards the boy started a few days after he joined first PUC last year.

“The principal always ask some of the students to clean the class room. Once, Siddiq was cleaning the class room. He had kept his identity card inside his bag. The principal shouted at him for not wearing identity card along with uniform and asked him to pay a fine of Rs 100.

“Even though the boy took out his identity card from the bag and showed it to the principal the latter was adamant on his demand for fine. Siddeeq, who is an orphan and hails from a poor family, could not pay the fine immediately. From that day on he started harassing Siddiq,” said one of his friends.

Protest

A day after the brutal assault the Dakshina Kannada district unit of Campus Front of India staged a protest in front of the college demanding the college management to take action against the principal and sack him from the post.

The agitators slammed the principal for spreading communalism in the campus and behaving like a ‘rowdy’. “We have received several complaints that he deliberately targets Muslim students,” said one of the protesters.

Later when a delegation of CFI members met the principal at his house, he reiterated that he had realized his mistake and also said that he had decided to resign from the post of principal. When contacted the college management said that it had received the resignation letter from the principal and a decision would be taken after a meeting on Monday.

A case has also been registered at jurisdictional Bajpe Police Station against the principal based on the complaint lodged by the student.

College protest 11

College protest 1

College protest 2

College protest 3

College protest 4

College protest 5

College protest 6

College protest 7

College protest 8

College protest 10

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
December 2,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 2: Mangaluru International Airport responded to a medical emergency late on Monday night. Air India Express flight IX 522, travelling from Riyadh to Thiruvananthapuram, was diverted to Mangaluru Airport after a passenger in his late 30s experienced a medical emergency on board.

The Airport’s Operations Control Centre received an alert regarding the passenger’s health condition. The airport activated its emergency response protocol, mobilising the airport medical team and coordinating with stakeholders including CISF, immigration, and customs. 

Upon landing, airport medical personnel attended to the passenger, assessed his condition, and arranged to shift him to a local tertiary-care hospital for further treatment. The passenger’s relatives accompanied the passenger, who incidentally received necessary medical care on board, which helped stabilise the situation.

Following the handling of the emergency, the flight departed for Thiruvananthapuram at 2:05 am on Tuesday.

"We appreciate the cooperation of all parties involved, and this incident reaffirms our ongoing commitment to prioritising passenger safety and readiness to respond to unforeseen emergencies with professionalism and care," the Airport spokesperson said. 

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
December 5,2025

Mangaluru: In a significant step to curb online hate and intimidation, Mangaluru City Police have registered a suo motu case against multiple Instagram accounts accused of circulating alleged provocative and threatening content.

While monitoring social media activity on Tuesday, Kankanady Town PSI Anitha Nikkam identified the Instagram handle ‘team_targetttt_900’ for posting a hate message alongside images of lethal weapons. Another account, ‘team_nagara_900’, allegedly shared a threatening post targeting activist Bharath Kumdelu, tagging additional pages such as KARAVALI-OFFICIAL.

Several other accounts — including ‘immu_bhai.fan’, ‘target_boy_900’, ‘kings_of_manglore’, ‘team_target_boys.900’, ‘arshad_mangalore’, ‘target_ka19_ullal’, ‘team_target__’, ‘troll_tigersz_900’, ‘tr_group_900’, and ‘team_target_900’ — are also under scrutiny for spreading similar inflammatory material, police said.

Authorities have urged citizens, especially young social media users, to report suspicious pages and avoid engaging with groups that glorify violence or threaten individuals. Online hate can quickly escalate into real-world harm, and police stress that sharing or promoting such content can attract legal consequences.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
December 15,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 15: Educational institutions in Mangaluru that rely on the popular Mangala Stadium for their annual sports events are bracing for an inconvenience as the city's key sporting venue is set to close its gates for a significant upgrade. The stadium is expected to be unavailable for approximately two months starting from January 15, 2026.

The closure is necessitated by a proposed overhaul of the stadium's facilities, with a special focus on upgrading the synthetic track. Pradeep Dsouza, Assistant Director of the District of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES), Dakshina Kannada, confirmed the development.

"Experts have visited the stadium, conducted a thorough inspection, and have given the go-ahead for a complete makeover," Dsouza stated. "Funds have been allocated for the project, and we are currently awaiting the final green signal from state officials to commence the work. We anticipate that the work will likely begin in the second week of January. Consequently, we have stopped renting out the stadium to colleges and other organizations in preparation for the upgrade."

The timing presents a logistical challenge for colleges, as many schools have already concluded their sports meets.

"Colleges will now be organizing their events and will need to find alternative locations to host their sports meets," Dsouza added. He suggested a few potential venues, including the Dakshina Kannada police ground, University College grounds, Panambur grounds, Swaraj Maidan in Moodbidri, and the Mangalore University sports grounds in Konaje.

However, many institutions note that finding a comparable venue will be difficult. While the DK police ground and University College grounds are closer to the city center, they do not possess the extensive facilities and infrastructure offered by Mangala Stadium.

Dr. P Dayananda Pai - P Satisha Govt First Grade College, Carstreet, is one such institution dependent on the stadium. Principal Jayakar Bhandary expressed hope for a swift completion of the work. "We expect the work to be completed at the earliest. If not, we will be forced to look for other venues to host the sports day for our students," Bhandary said, highlighting the pressing need for the city's main sporting facility.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.