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Chennai: Students thrashed by 20 people for not rising for national anthem

The Supreme Court recently passed an order making it mandatory for people to stand when the national anthem is playing in movie halls.

Chennai: A group of college students was manhandled and threatened inside a movie theatre in Chennai on Sunday, allegedly because they did not stand up when the national anthem was playing before the film.

According to a report in NDTV, the students have been charged with insulting the anthem, a crime that can entail up to three years of imprisonment.

Four boys and four girls were attacked, allegedly by a group of 20, during the 11.30 am show of "Chennai 600028 II".

No one has yet been arrested for the assault, said the report.

"During the interval, people sitting behind us were passing lewd remarks and a man, Vijayakumar, grabbed my friend by the collar and threatened to kill him for disrespecting the national anthem," one of the girl students was reported as saying.

The students were asked by the security guards to leave the theatre but did not, alleging that Vijayakumar had threatened to thrash them the moment they left.

The students also claimed that the group which thrashed them were laughing and cheering at sexist jokes in the movie, and attacked one of their female friends.

The students finally walked out in the middle of the movie. The police, which had been called by then, waited for the other group to come out so they could be identified, said the report.

The two groups were then taken to the police station.

A case was filed on a complaint by Vijayakumar that the students, apart from remaining seated, also took selfies and chatted. He also claimed that people in his group were beaten.

The Supreme Court recently passed an order making it mandatory for people to stand when the national anthem is playing in movie halls.

( Source : deccan chronicle )
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