Bengaluru: Principal canes students, caught on camera

Bengaluru: For 13 years, every student and even lecturers who entered the SEA College of Engineering and Technology lived in fear of their violent, abusive principal, Padmaraju. All it took was for a student to enter the campus five minutes late, not write the title of a new chapter in his notebook or forget to bring a record - Padmaraju would beat students black and blue with any tool that was handy. They have been caned and even hit with rods on occasion.

On Monday, one student, Ravi Kumar (name changed on request) decided enough was enough. He took a video of Padmaraju beating a group of his seniors for not bringing their records and took it to the electronic media. “All this time, nobody has dared to speak out, because he has all our certificates and everybody is afraid of being expelled or disbarred,” said Ravi. “I saw him hitting my seniors, so I took the video. He is not a normal person,” he added.

This was shortly after Ravi himself had been badly beaten on his face with a cane. “It caused a big cut and started bleeding quite badly,” he said. Parents have approached him over the years, but to no avail. “If parents question him, he screams at them in front of all the students. Everybody is afraid of him,” said Ravi.

Last year, Padmaraju allegedly attacked a lecturer who questioned his behaviour. Ravi says that the college is owned by an ex MLA - it is run by the S.E.A. Education Trust, which has a number of educational institutions under its umbrella. The current CEO is Poornima K. Srinivas.

“That is also why we haven't taken the matter to the police,” said Ravi. Electronic media arrived on the campus on Wednesday and Ravi is sure that the matter has now been brought to the notice of the management. “We will return to college on Saturday, so we will only learn their reaction then,” Ravi added.