Video goes viral; youth under ‘medical care’, institute says disciplinary action to follow after explanation
A video clip shows a BITS Pilani student in an inebriated state being helped by locals on Wednesday.
VASCO
A student of the BITS Pilani Goa campus who was found highly inebriated on the Vasco-Verna highway near the campus on Tuesday night has been placed under ‘medical care’ by the educational institution and will be given a chance to explain his behaviour.
A video of the student having fallen near the road divider and being helped by three other youth went viral on social media on Wednesday.
In the video, the highly inebriated student was seen fallen near the road divider and unable to get up, as vehicles sped by along the highway.
Three youth were seen helping the student to stand up and, after some effort, managed to get the student on his feet.
Some locals also approached the youth, and the person recording the video clip voiced concern that the intoxicated student could easily have been knocked down by unsuspecting vehicles speeding on the highway.
He also sought to enquire if they were students of BITS Pilani and wondered how the student could have been moving recklessly and in an intoxicated condition on the highway and outside the campus at night.
While the video ends with the BITS Pilani student and the youth still on the highway, the student was later taken back safely to the campus.
When contacted, Arjun C Halarnkar, Chief Manager of Public Relations at the BITS Goa campus, confirmed to The Goan that the youth found highly inebriated on the Vasco-Sancoale highway near the campus on Tuesday night is a student at the BITS Goa campus.
When asked if the BITS Pilani Goa campus had taken cognisance of the matter and if the youth in question is facing any action for his behaviour, Halarnkar replied, “The student is under medical care. He will be given a chance to explain his behaviour as per BITS disciplinary procedures.”
To another query on the terms and conditions permitting students to go outside the campus, Halarnkar said, “Students are allowed to go out of campus from 5 pm onwards on working days and during the entire day on holidays.”
“They have to return by 10.30 pm. Any violation of campus rules attracts appropriate punishment as per BITS disciplinary procedures,” he added.
The BITS Pilani had recently come under intense scrutiny after five student deaths were reported on the campus in less than a year.
Responding to calls for stronger security and preventive measures, the prestigious institution had initiated a series of measures, including gate-level screening of parcels entering the campus and the installation of 600 CCTV cameras across hostels and corridors across the campus.
