[ToI] Menace of ragging

Link to report

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.