Mazitar (East Sikkim), Feb. 29: Students of Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology will boycott their first-session examinations beginning tomorrow to protest against the thrashing of a first-year student, allegedly by teachers.

Prashant Praful, a student of electronics and communication who allegedly entered the premises drunk, was apparently slapped repeatedly by students’ welfare officer Balwant Singh and later stripped and beaten by 17 faculty members in the teachers’ quarters.

He was caught trying to sneak into the sprawling campus, which also houses the hostel, with another boarder on Thursday evening.

The students, who came to know of the incident late on Friday, started assembling near the main entrance yesterday and continued with their protest through last night.

Soubhik Sur, the first-year mechanical engineering student who was caught with Praful, said the guards seized their identity cards as soon they entered the premises and called Singh, who slapped and abused Praful.

When Praful protested, he was singled out and taken to the teachers’ quarters and allegedly stripped, tied to a pole with a rope and thrashed by a group of 17 teachers. Sur managed to get away and hid near the generator room for the night.

Later in the night, Praful was handed over to Rangpo police. He was released on bail the next morning and is now with his family in Ranipul.

“We drank beer but we were not drunk. This is not the kind of punishment that Praful deserved,” Sur said today.

The students claimed that the management had pressured their representatives to call off the protest and “forget” about the incident. Eight students have been suspended for refusing to stall the protest.

The strikers have demanded the resignation of Singh and an apology from the teachers.

The students refused to listen to the registrar of Sikkim Manipal University, S.D. Dhakal, and the principal of the Gangtok-based Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences, R.P. Singh, who went to probe the incident.

Institute director R.S. Grewal said: “Praful was adamant and arrogant even after being caught in a drunken state.”