BENGALURU: Despite authorities training on guidelines on students who freshen up during the Common Entrance Test (CET) 2026 exams, three students were made to remove the janivara (sacred thread) by the authorities of PU Krupanidhi College in Koramangala.
The college has suspended three employees in connection with the incident.
A complaint was registered by the parents of the students at the Madiwala Police Station on April 24.
Anand S Theertha, Nakul H and Anirudh R Rao were forced to drop ‘janivara’ despite refusing to do so.
Anirudh’s father Raghu Bhima Rao, in his police complaint, said, “My son was forced to remove the thread. This action is unacceptable and is not in support of the guidelines issued by the KEA. It violates personal choice, religious freedom and has caused considerable emotional distress to my son. Either K-CET or the college should be held responsible for the same.”
He also asked the authorities to stop the college from holding future exams.
Harish, Nakul H’s parent, said IT WAS CUT“It is not good behavior from the college authorities. This incident happened on the first day of the CET exam on Thursday (April 23). First, my son was asked to remove an earring, then a thread tied on his hand. He agreed to remove these two items. Later, he was called again and made to remove the mother, and she called Janivara. It was not cut, he removed it and handed it over to my wife,” he added. he.
“Though there was no delay in entering the exam hall on Thursday, my son panicked and couldn’t attempt all the questions in the exam. He focused on preparing for the CET exams and not the board exams. However, we don’t know how it turned out. For now, we have filed a police complaint, but there is nothing we can do next.”
Nakul is currently studying PCMC at Oxford PU College in Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, Sudheendra, Anand’s parent, said, “When my son was asked to remove the thread, he contacted me over the phone and asked if he could remove it. I told him he shouldn’t. But by then, he had removed it. After the first paper, I entered the college campus and went to the principal’s office and 4 minutes, the parent was 5 minutes. He moved to the peons later.
“The principal told us that they had trained the staff not to ask students to remove mangalsutras, janivaras or any other items worn for religious reasons,” he added.
“My son is a bright student, and scored 96% in exam-1 in UP second exams. He is a student of BRICS Academy,” he said.
Responding to this issue, College Principal PU Krupanidhi has issued suspension letters to the staff members, Sudhakar D, Saritha R and Girijamma, who are allegedly involved in forcing students to remove janivara.
They have been held in abeyance pending the conclusion of the investigation and have been asked to report as and when called for investigative proceedings.
Dr MC Sudhakar, Minister for Higher Education, said, “Strict action should be taken against the college staff if this incident has taken place. All the staff of the colleges where the exams were conducted on April 23 and 24 were trained directly by the Karnataka Examinations Authority, and instructions have been issued in advance that they should and should not be repeated. if they do it intentionally or if anyone is in support of such acts.”
KEA officials in a letter state that “Through the media it has been learned that some candidates who had come to appear for the Physics subject exam on April 23 at the center in question, were instructed by the staff to remove their Janivara and were then allowed to appear for the exam”.
“This is a sensitive issue and AEK has explained the dress code very clearly. Referring to a similar incident that happened last year, it was clearly emphasized in the training that religious items such as Janivara, Linga, etc.,” the letter states.
“In this matter, an investigation has been conducted by senior officials and legal action has been taken immediately according to the rules and a full report has been requested to be submitted”, it is further stated.
