Bengaluru: Recently, a 30-year-old Ph.D. research scholar from the famous Indian Institute of Science has been assaulted by the BMTC bus conductor for speaking in Tamil. As soon as the incident happened, the Ph.D. research scholar filed a legal complaint against the BMTC bus conductor. He recorded his statement that he was punched several times and then he was kicked out of the BMTC bus by the bus conductor. His only mistake was he spoke in the Tamil language with the bus conductor!
The Ph.D. scholar of Indian Institute of Science, R Karthik, was standing alongside the bus conductor near the bus door. The BMTC bus that the scholar was traveling was very much crowded and he was asked to move inside irrespective of the crowd. The bus conductor was constantly instigating him to move further even if there was not a bit of free space in the bus.
Crowded buses in Bengaluru are quite a natural thing. The availability of buses in Bengaluru is very much limited and that’s why; the buses are almost full always. The bus that the Ph.D. scholar rode was naturally filled as always. So, when the bus conductor asked him to move inside, he replied in Tamil. He simply said the conductor that he is going to get down at the next bus stop. His only mistake was, he spoke in the Tamil language. Sooner, the bus conductor’s temper changed and he started addressing the Ph.D. scholar in a derogatory manner. The conductor was calling himself a ‘Tamil guy’ and then he literally kicked the scholar out of the BMTC bus at the next stop which was a CPRI stop on New BEL Road.
The assaulted scholar, R Karthik, who is pursuing his Ph.D. in chemistry at the IISc, belongs from Madurai in Tamil Nadu. He has been staying in Vigyanapura, Bengaluru on ISRO Road for more than eight years now. On last Saturday afternoon, when he was boarded the BMTC bus to go to IISc at ITI Layout bus stop, this harassing incident happened. He was supposed to get down from the bus at the Sadashivanagar police station bus stop.
R Karthik claimed that no other bus passenger helped him. The bus conductor asked him either to move inside or to get down from the bus immediately. When he refused to get down, the bus conductor almost kicked him out of the bus at the CPRI staff quarters stop. While the bus driver politely requested him to get down from the bus, the conductor almost kicked him out!
Just because he spoke in Tamil, no other passenger tried to help him out. So, Karthik directly went to the Sadashivanagar police station immediately after getting kicked out of the bus and filed the complaint against the BMTC bus conductor.
The police officer who is investigating the assaulting case has said that they have been able to trace the bus conductor. Strict actions will be taken against him within the next few days!