[NewIndPress] Yet another case of ragging surfaces

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Wednesday September 27 2006 14:17 IST

BHADRACHALAM: Yet another incident of ragging surfaced at the Paul Raj Engineering College here today after the college physical director Karunakar filed a complaint over ragging of juniors to police.

The complaint was filed against two senior students.Sub-inspector Ch Deva Reddy warned the seniors and later let them free.

Meanwhile, tension prevailed on the college premises after the senior students staged a dharna at the college alleging that they have been implicated by the physical director. Police stepped in to quell the situation.

[CNN-IBN] Ragging accused commits suicide

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Indore: A college student, caught and detained for ragging other students, has allegedly committed suicide by jumping in front of a running train, police said on Saturday.

Ashok Choudhary, a BSc final year student at the Holkar Science College, was caught by Principal N K Dhakad while ragging other students on September 20 and was handed over to police.

He was detained along with two other students during the entire day at the police station.

They were let off at night after the Principal's intervention.

Ashok, who hailed from Mandsaur and was putting up at the hostel in the college. He went missing the next day and after searching for him for two days, a complaint was registered.

The police found his dead body at the Manik Railway crossing on September 21.

Meanwhile, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) workers held the Principal and the district Youth Congress President responsible for the suicide.

ABVP workers on Saturday staged a chakkajam in front of the Holkar

college demanding suspension of the principal and compensation to the family members of the deceased student besides an inquiry into the matter.

Collector Vivek Agrawal and other senior officers reached the spot and held discussions with the agitators following which the chakkajam was given up.

Later, Mr Agrawal told reporters that a magisterial inquiry would be ordered into the matter.

He recommended that the principal of the college be either sent on leave or transfered until the inquiry report arrived.

He said necessary action would be taken after arrival of the report.

[New Kerala] Girl ragged, women commission orders probe

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Raipur, Sep 21: Chhattisgarh Women Commission has ordered a probe Thursday into alleged ragging of an 18-yr-old engineering college girl student by senior students, who also prepared a sleaze CD of the victim.

The probe order was issued a day after the girl had been admitted to a government hospital late Wednesday here.

A doctor said: "She is unable to speak and falls unconscious frequently. She has been admitted to the mental ward."

"A high level probe has been ordered Thursday. We have reports that seniors, mostly girls ragged Manisha Verma, three days back," Sudha Verma, chairperson of the Chhattisgarh Women Commission told IANS.

The girl was enrolled this year in July in the first year at the Bilaspur Engineering College, 110 km from here. She was staying at the college hostel along with 35 other girl students.

"I will be able to give details only after the probe is completed. But whatever inputs we have, the girl was extremely tortured and the seniors allegedly prepared a sleaze CD of the student. But inputs have to be crosschecked by local authorities," Verma said.

"I met the girl in the government hospital. She is critical and was uttering 'please forgive me'. The commission will not spare anyone who tortured the girl," the chairperson said.

Meanwhile, the police in Bilaspur have maintained 'silence' over the whole incident.

"We are collecting details. We cannot say what happened exactly to Manisha. The seniors said she was reluctant to stay in hostel," a senior Bilaspur police official said over telephone.

The college management also set up a probe team and has been interrogating the seniors.

Manisha's family members, who belong to Rajnandgaon district in west Chhattisgarh, met the girl in the hospital Thursday. However, Manisha reportedly failed to recognise them.

Banking on the situation, opposition Congress has pulled up the state's Bharatiya Janata Party government for failing to curb ragging.

Said state unit Congress president, Charandas Mahant: "The state government was trying to cover up the issue and not allowing media persons and political parties to meet Manisha in hospital as it will unravel the truth."

--- IANS

Row over ragging leads to bomb blast

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Bhagalpur (Bihar), Sept 20: Three students of T N B College here were injured in bomb blasts in the hostel following an altercation over ragging today, police said.

The bombs were exploded by 12 persons, including outsiders, and two students from the biotechnology department at the hostel on the college campus.

The incident was a sequel to last night's altercation between some students of 1st year and 3rd year over ragging.

College principal R P C Verma had suspended two students for a day as punishment, the police said.

Angered over this, the duo, along with some outsiders, reached the hostel today and exploded bombs.

Two persons had been arrested in connection with the incident and two motorcycles seized, the police said.

Security has been tightened on the campus after the incident. (Agencies)

[Khaleej Times] Ragging : expelled student’s family may sue institute

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20 September 2006


DUBAI — The ragging row at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS, Pilani) might end in court as the family of the expelled student yesterday said that they might sue the college.

The disciplinary committee appointed by the BITS, Pilani management to decide on the action to be taken against four students accused of ragging expelled one of them while another was suspended for a year. The other two students were allowed to resume classes yesterday on the condition that their suspension would be put on hold for a year.

Sources said the expelled student’s family was surprised by the decision and said that they did not receive any document from the college management regarding his expulsion.

“If the management’s decision is final, we will seek the help of the authorities and we may even file a law suit.. Let us watch the developments and then we would take a final decision how to face the problem,” said a source in the family.

“He refused to sign the apology documents while the management insisted that he sign it. He is innocent and he was not in the country while the alleged ragging took place. Why should he admit to something he did not indulge in? We have proof that he was away when it happened,” the source added.

However, M. Ramachandran, Director of BITS, Pilani, said, “We have given enough chances to the students to confess their mistakes. But they do not want to admit it.

“They want to question the management. So we were forced to take an final decision.”

“The other students have accepted the decision. The two students who resumed their classes will be monitored by the management. They apologised to the junior students and they are happy to accept the decision of the college,” he added.

“I always had the foresight that a day will come when people will either start committing suicides or start telling the world about the atrocities of

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By IndiaFM News Bureau, September 19, 2006 - 05:30 IST

"I have made the film out of sheer anger and disgust."

Manish Gupta, script writer of films like Sarkar, James, D, Darna Zaroori Hai is upset about the fact that a mother of the victim of ragging committed suicide last week. Also in less than a week’s time another incident of ragging was reported wherein a student from an engineering college was badly beaten by belt and tortured for around 8 hours.

One would get to see these real life atrocities being enacted in Manish Gupta’s next directorial venture titled Hostel. Hostel deals with the serious issue of ragging. It deals with the story of how in hostels homosexuality prevails in the name of ragging. Manish Gupta does not support the idea of ragging.

We spoke to Manish Gupta with regards to the recent incident of ragging that is being making news and the director expressed severe disgust over the act. “Ragging is fine till it is meant to be a tool for ice breaking between freshers and seniors. But there is a thin line which should not be crossed as there are serious hazards to ragging”, said Gupta.

“Ragging is a very serious issue. It has been prevailing since many years now. My film deals with this issue. Through my film I want to show the world what actually a victim of ragging goes through”, said Manish Gupta. We asked Manish to tell us about the similarities of these incident and the incidents in the film and he replied “Ragging is dangerous. I had the idea of this script 13 years ago when I was not a part of the film fraternity. I met this guy who was from Pune in MIT College. He was ragged to such an extent that he was raped almost every night by MEN. I was disgusted. The memory of the incident was so strong that I wanted the world to know about the hazards and the practices people follow in the name of ragging.

Two years back I started scripting the film and now the film is made. People should watch it to understand what a victim goes through. I have made the film out of sheer anger and disgust. The script was written in an outrageous mood. The incidents I have shown in the film are all real. I hate people who follow such practices in the name of ragging. I always had the foresight that a day will come when people will either start committing suicides or start telling the world about the atrocities of ragging. I want an awareness to be created so that no one commits a suicide due to ragging. There should be opposition and people should understand between what is right and what is not”

2 students arrested on ragging charge in WB

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COOCH BEHAR (WB): Two students of Cooch Behar polytechnic here were arrested for allegedly ragging a first year student of the institute, police sources said on Tuesday.

Muresul Islam Gaye, a first year student of Civil Engineering of the institute lodged an FIR with the Kowari police station on September 15 against two senior students for allegedly ragging him.

Gaye claimed in the FIR that on the night of September 13 he was subjected to severe ragging by the seniors in the hostel. He alleged that the seniors had compelled him to write a suicide note and even asked him to drink acid.

He then contacted his family in West Midnapore district. His family members came the next day and took him to MJN Hospital for treatment. An FIR was also lodged against the seniors.

The two senior students Sumitra Safdar and Joyce Bhattacharjee were arrested on Monday after the FIR was lodged by Gaye, police sources said.

Meanwhile, the Polytechnic has constituted a six-member committee to probe Gaye’s allegations of ragging.

[Mumbai Mirror] They hit me with a belt for hrs

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Monday, September 18, 2006 | Lead Story

Mumbai boy ragged in Chiplun suffers swelling to skull and chest, has belt marks on his back, hands and knees

Jigna Vora

Only days after a student in Pune suffered damage to his kidney due to ragging by seniors, another student, a Mumbai boy doing his diploma in computer engineering in Chiplun, 240 km from the city, has become the victim of a brutal assault by college thugs. Rohit Vijay Rane, 17, who moved into his college hostel in Chiplun only a fortnight ago, was on Friday ragged for more than eight hours by five seniors. They first smashed his mobile phone on to the ground and when he threatened to complain to college authorities, locked him up in a room and whipped him repeatedly with a belt, gagging him with a hand to keep his cries from being heard.

Rane returned to his home and parents in Malad on Saturday night and got a medical examination done at Bhagwati Hospital. The hospital's report has revealed he has suffered "assault by a belt and feet during ragging in college. He has belt marks on his hands, back and knees, a swelling on the skull and chest, and his eyes have turned black and red."

Rane went to Kurar police to lodge a complaint on Sunday but was told to complain to Chiplun police since that was where the assault took place. He left with his father to Chiplun late last night.

According to Rane, on Friday at around 8 pm, Sachin Kale, a second-year student, came up to him in the hostel lobby and asked him for his cell phone to make a call. "When I told Sachin the network was down, he got angry and shouted, "If there's no network, what's the use of having a cell?" Then he banged the phone on the floor four times," Rane said.

‘I was locked in a room’

Rane then told Kale he would complain to the rector S S Mane and also to the college principal. "Sachin got even more furious on hearing this and began assaulting me. We were the only ones present in the hostel lobby at the time, and as I yelled from pain, three more seniors came down from upstairs and took me to room number 36 (Sachin's room) on the first floor and locked it from inside. When I told them too that I would complain to the rector, they hit me with a belt for 30 minutes," he noted.

Rane's cries were smothered by the seniors by placing a hand on his mouth. "After a while Sachin dragged me to the ground floor to room number 23, which belongs to another senior, and started beating me there again."

According to Rane, the hostel is just 10 minutes away from the college, and a watchman deployed at its main gate does the rounds of all floors at 11 pm.

"Whenever the watchman made his rounds, other senior students gestured to Sachin and he gagged me with a hand so I could not shout and kept on beating me till 3 am," Rane said.

"When I told the boys that I could die and requested them to stop beating me, Sachin said: 'You want to die? Ok, write a suicide note first'", Rane pointed out. Rane was beaten up again when he refused to write the suicide note. Eventually, he signed the note under duress, he said.

After being beaten for many hours, Rane was locked in a room at 8 am Saturday. At around 11 am, he was dragged by Sachin and his friends to the rector's office, he said. They told rector Mane that Rane had robbed his roommate's mobile, but when Mane asked the roommate, he told him his cell was with him, Rane said.

Mane then called Rane's father, Vijay, who works in a private company in Mumbai. He told him there was a complaint against Rane that he had robbed his roommate's mobile. Rane narrated the whole incident to his father. "My son is in your custody and see that nothing happens to him," Rane's father told the rector after hearing the entire episode.

Mane told his father he would send his son to Mumbai with someone.

When Mumbai Mirror contacted Mane, he agreed there was a fight between the boys but stated that it had nothing to do with ragging. "The incident was due to some internal fight between the boys," Mane said.

Rohit came to Mumbai on Saturday evening and then went to lodge a complaint at Kurar police station.

An officer at the station explained to them that as the incident had taken place at Chiplun, they had to lodge the complaint there. He suggested they go to Bhagwati Hospital for a medical examination and then lodge a complaint at Chiplun.

A frightened Rane told Mumbai Mirror: "I don't want to go back. They will kill me."

HOSTEL :: A film on ragging

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Manish Gupta is miffed with rumours surrounding his second directorial venture SAAB CHAI PANI, allegedly bearing resemblance to the Om Puri starrer ARDH SATYA. 'I don't know from where these rumours have sprung up. It is really very distressing and disturbing. In ARDH SATYA Om Puri plays an honest cop who is frustrated by the system where as my film shows Sonu Sood accepting bribes and succumbing to the societal pressures,' says a livid Manish adding that it just has a slight resemblance to the film.

'Sonu turns corrupt owing to varied reasons. His wife is not happy with their way of life. It shows how professional life affects marital life and vice versa,' wails Manish dismissing all the allegations.

Nonetheless he is all charged about his forthcoming film HOSTEL, which deals with the issue of ragging that is very relevant in today's scenario. 'HOSTEL is a commercial film about a student played by Vatsal Seth who enters a notorious hostel and is ragged by his seniors. It's not just about one incident; but a string of incidents and is a real hard-hitting action film. It shows how students are tortured and harassed in the name of ragging,' he reveals.

Vatsal SethWhat about the bold scenes in the film? 'There is one scene where Vatsal is made to strip and has to parade but it has been shot in a decent manner. He was very apprehensive initially but I managed to convince him. I hope some kind of message or some good comes out of HOSTEL,' he adds.

Not many know that it was one horrific incident that prompted him to make HOSTEL, which still lingers on his mind. 'I actually conceived the idea 13 years back when I was doing my engineering. I met this one guy who was repeatedly raped every night. I was disgusted and extremely disturbed. It was very gross and I can't get over it till date. That's when I decided that I wanted to make a film on it,' sighs Manish.

He is in talks with producers and has three more films coming up.

[Hindu] Chapter on ragging in law manual for college students

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: `Lessons in Law,' an 80-page booklet in Malayalam brought out by the Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KELSA), that provides "legal empowerment" for college students has added a chapter on ragging in its latest issue published recently.

The book describes at length how ragging has always been a nightmarish experience for newcomers. There are students who have discontinued studies and even ended their lives due to the ignominies suffered during ragging.

The State Government passed a new law in the legislature in 1998 prohibiting ragging.

As per the definitions of the law, any act that has the potential to induce fear or terror in students or inflict mental, physical or emotional trauma on them comes under the ambit of ragging.

The law makes it clear that coercing a student to do something against his will is equivalent to ragging. So is the act of abusing or insulting a student. The booklet points out that it is not necessary that ragging occur only within the confines of educational institutions.

A student found guilty of ragging can get imprisonment for two years and fine of Rs.10,000. The law also stipulates that a student found guilty of ragging be expelled from the institution in which he is studying, besides debarring him from obtaining admission in any other educational institution for a period of three years.

It mandates that Principals of educational institutions conduct investigation into complaints of ragging within seven days of receiving a written representation from the victim, besides forwarding a copy of the complaint to the nearest police station. The Principal is duty bound to expel the student from the institution if there is prima facie evidence against the accused.

The law also has provisions for punitive action against the heads of institutions, in case of default of initiating the necessary steps to check the menace on campus. The punishment for `abetting ragging' will be the same as that of a student found guilty of ragging.

The booklet will be distributed in colleges as a part of legal literacy classes conducted by the KELSA. The project is a part of the National Legal Literacy Mission.

[AndhraCafe] Mother of Ragging victim dies

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C. Lalitha, mother of Mukesh, who was sexually abused at ragging, ended her life by committing suicide. Mukesh and his father were away to meet the National Human Righs Commission secretary who was inquiring into the ragging incident only to return home that evening to see the body of lalitha hanging from the fan.

It is believed that Lalitha who felt embarassed by her son's ragging episode has been reported to be in a state of depression since then and the exposure of her son's incident in the community and the controversy surrounding it, could very well have driven her into taking the extreme step of taking her own life.

While the four accused will undergo trial, the Human Rights Commission wants the College Management to assume responsbility for this.

[Newindpress] Four students charged with sodomy; held under Ragging Act

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Thursday September 7 2006 00:56 IST

SRIKAKULAM: A shocking incident of six engineering students of GMR Institute of Technology (GMRIT), who had unnatural sex with one of their colleagues on Tuesday, came to light at Rajam near here on Wednesday.

Police arrested four students under provisions of AP Prevention of Ragging Act, 1997 and also charged them with sodomy. Two others are at large. The accused; DV Bhaskar, T Ramesh and Santosh; called one of their classmates Ch P Mukesh, staying in an adjoining room in Anjani complex, and forced him to have sex with them and beat him when he refused to oblige them.

After some time, Bhaskar and three others; T Ravi, Yerraiah Babu and BBK Chaitanya; called Ramesh who is also their classmate, and threatened him with dire consequences if he did not fulfil their carnal desire

Ramesh succumbed to pressure and became a victim of the heinous act. Another student Harish videographed the sexual act with a cellular phone, due to coercion by the miscreants.

The victim Ramesh left for his native place Visakhapatnam a few hours after the incident while Harish lodged a complaint with the police. A team of police led by DSP PV Krishnaiah raided the complex where the accused were staying and arrested Bhaskar, Chaitanya, Ravi, Yerraiah Babu while Ramesh and Santosh are said to be absconding.

The cops have also seized the cellular phone, which is the crucial evidence.

Meanwhile, the police have written a letter to the GMRIT principal seeking information about the accused students and their background.

RIMS ragging controversy resolved

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The Imphal Free Press

IMPHAL, Sept 4: The recent controversy over ragging of fresher medical students of Regional Institute Medical Sciences by their seniors has finally been settled this afternoon following an MOU signed between the representatives of RIMS Students Union and RIMS authorities.

During the meeting, the RIMS students have given a solemn undertaking that there will be no more ragging in the RIMS in future.

In the meantime, about 200 medical students thronged at the campus of the RIMS directorate today after the RIMS authorities attempted to fix responsibility for the ragging upon the six senior medical students who were picked on the night of August 25 by the police on the charge of involvement in ragging the freshers.

It may be mentioned that around midnight of August 25, several fresher students were made to walk around the RIMS campus in their underwear. Police, responding to complaints from onlookers, picked up some senior medical students.

Later, around 12.15 pm an emergency joint meeting attended by the RIMS director, representatives of RIMS Students Union and senior lecturers of RIMS was held and it was finally decided to levy a punitive fine of Rs.5000 upon the student union for its failure to produced the main culprits who were directly involved in the ragging incident.

According to L. Iboyaima, Public Relation Officer, RIMS directorate, the RIMS authorities are very much concerned over the reports of ragging by the senior medical students and the matter has became serious due to the multiple complaints and continuous public criticism over the recent incident.

He said the RIMS authorities soon after the incident directed the representatives of the RIMS Students Union to produce the involved senior students in the incident, but no action was taken immediately due to the inability of the union to produce the students involved

The RIMS authorities decided to fix the responsibilities upon the six students who were picked up by the Lamphel police and released on the midnight of August 25.

On the other hand the entire body of medical students of the teaching hospital gathered at the RIMS directorate today and submitted a memorandum to the RIMS director, claiming that the six students were innocent.

The PRO further said considering the plea of the students, the RIMS authority this afternoon finally decided to levy a punitive fine of Rs.5000 upon the RIMS Students Union and exact a commitment from the union not to repeat ragging in the college. With the signing of the understanding, the gathered medical students finally dispersed themselves around 1.45pm and resumed the normal classes.

Ragging at University of Agricultural Science

This is what CURE received from a victim recently... horror!

"I am just posting this as a warning to anyone who is thinking of going to the University of Agricultural Science in Bangalore, India.I am an American citizen, born and raised in America but of Indian heritage (both my parents are Indian).And I decided to go to this college to pursue veterinary medicine.Anyway, I left everything I knew in pursuit of this dream and all I found was cruel and unusual ragging. Every day the senior boys and some girls would surround me and taunt me. Very disrespectful-too much, in fact, to post here-but if anyone wants to know more details please email me. Every day this happened. They followed me home on many occasions;they forced me to bow to them; kiss their boots;they wrote horrific things on the desks involving rape and murder;and they called my cell phone from the hostels threatening me. Then it became physical.They ran their car into me, knocking me to the ground, severely hurting my leg.One of the boys also punched me in the mouth.Everyday they told me how much they wanted to rape and murder me.Everyday.And what is worse, if there is a worse, is that the professors and even the dean himself knew all about it.The dean had even had meetings with the 3 main guys on numerous occasions (we found out later after we went to the press about it-they uncovered a lot after the fact).Some of the professors even made comments in class about making it as hard for me as possible because they didn't want me to go back to the US and make more money than them.Anyway, there are so many details and not enough room here for them.Like I said, if anyone is interested in knowing the whole story please do not hesitate to email me.I just do not want this to happen to anyone else.It was so scary;I would never wish this on anyone.Please, please think twice about going over there.It isn't worth it.Just to save a few years of schooling I almost lost a lot more.If nothing else, if you are considering going to India for college, please just let me talk to you first.You don't have to do anything just because I am telling you this story-just hear me out and make your own decision.Thanks for reading..."

MHG

[ToI] Menace of ragging

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PUNE: A first-year medical student of the B.J. Medical College (BJMC) was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Sassoon Hospital here on Sunday after he was allegedly ragged by his seniors at the college hostel.

Seventeen-year-old Akhilesh Shukla, who hails from Raipur in Chhattisgarh and had joined the college recently, was reportedly forced to do sit-ups for an inordinately long time that left him exhausted.

He was taken to the hospital where he was diagnosed as having a renal problem and had to undergo dialysis, sources said.

Deputy commissioner of police A.D. Shinde confirmed that a complaint has been lodged in this connection by the Bund Garden police.

Sub-inspector Madhav Suryavanshi has been assigned the probe. Akhilesh himself has registered his statement with Suryavanshi.

While the incident, which occurred on Sunday afternoon, shook the BJMC — one of the most prestigious medical institutions in the country — the college authorities preferred being tightlipped and refused to elaborate any details. All that college dean V.L. Yemul would say when contacted by TOI was: "I have learnt something to this (ragging) effect.

I have sent my men to get exact details." When this reporter visited the ICU at the second floor of Sassoon building, the doctors attending to the victim refused to speak about his health and put the onus on Yemul.

Akhilesh's father, who had rushed to the hospital, was too worried to speak about the incident. At the hostel, students talked in hushed tones while saying that what happened with Akhilesh was "unfortunate".

Some of them demanded stern action against the culprits. Ragging is banned in Maharashtra and the enactment, Maharashtra Anti-Ragging Act of 1999, stipulates stringent punishment for the offenders, ranging from outright rustication to even a jail term, depending upon the seriousness of the offence.

Despite this, incidents of ragging have rocked academic institutions time and again. In 2003, as many as 26 students were shown the door at ILS Law College following a major ragging incident. SP College too was in the news for ragging.