Muvattupuzha: As part of their Onam celebrations, a group of students from Ilahia Engineering College here engaged in highly unsafe travel practices. In addition to using cars and SUVs, the students had rented a KSRTC bus for the occasion — an unusual choice for such festivities.

Video footage now circulating on social media shows students sitting and standing precariously on the footboard and in the windows of the moving bus. Some were even seen hanging out of the vehicle’s open doors and occupying nearly every window space. The bus was accompanied by a convoy of vehicles, with students also spotted perched on the doors of cars travelling both ahead and behind.

While KSRTC buses are available for private hire, commonly for weddings or tourism, using one for a college celebration in this manner is rare. The blatant disregard for safety regulations and traffic laws has drawn public criticism, particularly because a government-owned vehicle was involved.

Typically, when similar offences are observed involving private vehicles, the Motor Vehicles Department intervenes by suspending driving licences or cancelling vehicle permits. Now, there is mounting demand in social media for strict action not only against the students involved, but also against any KSRTC staff who may have facilitated the incident.