Mob heckles two South Korean students visiting Meerut university, accuses them of ‘conversion’

Meerut police said they did not let things escalate and got the matter under control immediately.

The South Korean students had come to visit the university on the suggestion of an Indian friend when a group of youths surrounded them. (Image source: Meerut University website)

Listen to this article

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

Two South Korean students were forced to leave Meerut’s Chaudhary Charan Singh (CCS) university on Saturday after a mob heckled them and accused them of allegedly being Christian missionaries.

The students had come to visit the university on the suggestion of an Indian friend when a group of youths surrounded them. In a purported 33-second video of the incident, which was shared on social media, a person who appears to be leading the mob can be heard saying, “Who is with you… what is the purpose of your visit… there is only one god ‘Ram’, others do not exist. These are Christian missionaries, who want to come here. This is wrong… Jai Shree Ram.” One of the girls tries to stop them and speaks in Hindi.

#खण्डनः कतिपय सोशल मीडिया पर वायरल धर्मान्तरण के आरोपों के संबंध में #UPPolice pic.twitter.com/Pz6d3jVZ82

— MEERUT POLICE (@meerutpolice) January 22, 2023

Meerut police said they did not let things escalate and got the matter under control immediately. They also issued a clarification on their Twitter page, denying allegations of any religious conversion. “Some foreign girls had come to visit the university. Some youths deliberately asked them about their religion and made a video. Some people wrongly spread this video that they are propagating religion. This is totally wrong,” it said.

CCS University registrar Dhirendra kumar told Indian Express, “We have not received any complaint in this case. If any student or union files a complaint in this regard, then we will respond to that. It is not yet known that who are those students or outsiders. If police ask us anything during investigation, we will reply.”

Story continues below this ad

“We are in the process of identifying the accused on the basis of the viral video, media reports etc. An FIR will be registered against the accused by today. Relevant sections of the IPC for misbehaviour, abuse and hurting religious sentiments will be included,” Meerut’s CO (Civil lines) Arvind Kumar told The Indian Express.

He further said, “Our police team was near the university and we immediately got the matter under control. We helped both Korean students and escorted them safely to their hotel. A Local Intelligent Officer (LIU) was deployed for them, he was monitoring the situation all the time. On Sunday, they had a flight to Delhi, from where they would return to their country on Monday.”

The officer said that the girls had come to Meerut on Friday and were visiting different places in the city. “They have done an internship in Delhi. They said they have many Indian friends in their country’s university. That’s why they seem comfortable speaking a little bit of Hindi. One of their Indian friends had suggested they visit Meerut university,” said Kumar.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram