About CURE
CURE is a non-profit organization dedicated solely towards the elimination of ragging and promotion of more positive ways of interaction among seniors and freshers in Indian universities. CURE was started by three students in the year 2001 as a website and has now become the most active group on ragging. It is run by alumni of IIT, MIT(USA) and those with experience in Planning Commision of the Govt. of India.
CURE: Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (www.noragging.com) is a research, awareness and advocacy body against ragging. Established in 2001, CURE is the first organization to take up the cause of ragging and has ever since involved in research activities involving collection and analysis of ragging data, campaigns such as printing/distribution of newsletters, slogan stickers, talk shows and working with various govt/non-govt bodies . CURE acted as a consultant to the Raghavan Committee of the Ministry of HRD, provided research data to the govt of India and was cited several times in the Raghavan Committee Report. CURE's portal (www.noragging.com) has been referenced by many institutes such as IIT, Delhi, colleges in Punjab and South India. Last year, CURE launched the first song and video on `Ragging' (www.noragging.com/video). The video has been made with a collaborative effort of the CURE team and first year students of NSIT, Delhi. The video has already made its way to MTV, NDTV and Aaj-Tak. It has also become the `Ragging Anthem' on youtube. CURE has been covered in each and every newspaper and News Channel in India across the Nation.
CURE website: www.noragging.com
CURE SUMMER INTERNSHIP
CURE is providing an exciting opportunity to first/second year students to utilize their summers in a fruitful way with scope of learning plethora of new things by doing and by experience, for a very relevant cause. The internship would require putting together creativity with technical-knowhow to create powerful media to sensitize the Nation about the cause. The candidate shall work on conceptualization and design of a video based on a ragging-victim interview, which shall hit the all the leading dailies and news channel in August.
The candidate will get opportunity to learn the nuances and seriousness of the issue and will gain experience in product development which will highly develop & enhance his/her presentation and product-selling skills. The candidate shall also discover how to self-learn new tools on a computer and how with concentrated effort, a very impressive and relevant product can be designed.
SKILLS REQUIRED
* Completed first/second year of college. With Keen interest in learning new things.
* Ease of working on computer and a fast self-learner of new tools and software.
* Ready to work hard and patient.
* Creative, good aesthetic and common sense.
* Aware of /sensitive to happenings around.
* Patient.
* Positive towards new ideas and reviews.
Period
End June till 7th August 2009.
Stipend
A respectable amount will be paid to cover basic costs of the person. The motivation of the project should be immense learning and contributing to a live project.
To Apply:
Send your resume to varun.aggarwal@noragging.com
With a 100 words(maximum) answer to "Why you would like to be a part of this project?"- Show quoted tex
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Student found dead in school bathroom, family alleges ragging
22 Jun 2009, 2223 hrs IST, PTI
NAHAN (HP): The body of a 10th standard student from Punjab was found in the bathroom of a residential school here and his family alleged he could have been a victim of ragging. According to a case registered at Pachhad police station under Rajgarh sub-division, the student Karm Singh, a resident of Kharar in Punjab, was found dead in the bathroom of the Badu Saheb Akal Academy School hostel on Sunday.
The academy authority believing that it was a case of suicide did not inform the police about the incident and took the body to his family in Kharar on Sunday, police said. The family members noticed bruises suspectedly caused by a sharp object on the body of Karm Singh and suspected foul play which according to them might be linked to ragging.
The family members raised a hue and cry after which the matter went to the police which registered a case today. Members of Pachhad police station had gone to Chandigarh for the post-mortem of the boy, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Rajgarh, Virendra Kalia said.
He said the police are investigating the case from all angles. Kalia said the post-mortem report of the student would be available on Tuesday after which charges under relevant laws would be pressed.
The authorities of the Academy affiliated to Deemed Eternal University, which also runs professional courses, refused to talk to the media despite repeated attempts.
NAHAN (HP): The body of a 10th standard student from Punjab was found in the bathroom of a residential school here and his family alleged he could have been a victim of ragging. According to a case registered at Pachhad police station under Rajgarh sub-division, the student Karm Singh, a resident of Kharar in Punjab, was found dead in the bathroom of the Badu Saheb Akal Academy School hostel on Sunday.
The academy authority believing that it was a case of suicide did not inform the police about the incident and took the body to his family in Kharar on Sunday, police said. The family members noticed bruises suspectedly caused by a sharp object on the body of Karm Singh and suspected foul play which according to them might be linked to ragging.
The family members raised a hue and cry after which the matter went to the police which registered a case today. Members of Pachhad police station had gone to Chandigarh for the post-mortem of the boy, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Rajgarh, Virendra Kalia said.
He said the police are investigating the case from all angles. Kalia said the post-mortem report of the student would be available on Tuesday after which charges under relevant laws would be pressed.
The authorities of the Academy affiliated to Deemed Eternal University, which also runs professional courses, refused to talk to the media despite repeated attempts.
7 students booked for ragging
A case was registered against seven senior students of a government college here for ragging a junior student, police said. The accused students of local polytechnic college allegedly indulged in ragging with Amit Patel, a student of first year, in the college hostel on June 18. The victim urged the college superintendent next day to initiate action against the accused. But he failed to take any action.
Peeved by the college authorities' apathy, Amit lodged a complaint with the local police station. On the basis of the complaint the police investigated the matter and registered a case against the accused.
However, no arrest was made so far, police said.
Peeved by the college authorities' apathy, Amit lodged a complaint with the local police station. On the basis of the complaint the police investigated the matter and registered a case against the accused.
However, no arrest was made so far, police said.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
NID student expelled on ragging complaint
Posted: Saturday , Jun 20, 2009 at 0053 hrs IST
Ahmedabad:
A second-year student of the National Institute of Design has been expelled from the hostel for six months in the first-ever reported incident of ragging at the institute’s Gandhinagar campus.
Disciplinary action was taken against the IInd-year Toy and Game Design (PGDPD) student after the complainant, a first-year girl student shot off a complaint letter to Vinay Kumar, the Dean of the PG Hostel, earlier on Monday. Kumar said the anti-ragging committee of the Institute took cognisance of the complaint and took necessary action. “We have an anti-ragging committee in place and we have taken appropriate action against the IInd year student,” he said.
Akhil Sahay, the PG Hostel Warden of the Gandhinagar campus of the institute, said: “We came across one complaint on the campus by a new student three to four days ago. The anti-ragging committee took cognisance of the complaint and immediately called the two students and recorded their individual statements.
The committee’s finding was that the nature of the complaint doesn’t exactly fall under the purview of ragging. But action has been taken against the second year student and he has been expelled from the PG campus hostel for the next six months .”
Incidentally, the nature of the ragging is not known, but sources have said that the accused student has reportedly apologised to the girl after the incident. But she refused to take back her complaint and demanded that he apologise publicly. The fresher has joined the Institute about a month ago.
Ahmedabad:
A second-year student of the National Institute of Design has been expelled from the hostel for six months in the first-ever reported incident of ragging at the institute’s Gandhinagar campus.
Disciplinary action was taken against the IInd-year Toy and Game Design (PGDPD) student after the complainant, a first-year girl student shot off a complaint letter to Vinay Kumar, the Dean of the PG Hostel, earlier on Monday. Kumar said the anti-ragging committee of the Institute took cognisance of the complaint and took necessary action. “We have an anti-ragging committee in place and we have taken appropriate action against the IInd year student,” he said.
Akhil Sahay, the PG Hostel Warden of the Gandhinagar campus of the institute, said: “We came across one complaint on the campus by a new student three to four days ago. The anti-ragging committee took cognisance of the complaint and immediately called the two students and recorded their individual statements.
The committee’s finding was that the nature of the complaint doesn’t exactly fall under the purview of ragging. But action has been taken against the second year student and he has been expelled from the PG campus hostel for the next six months .”
Incidentally, the nature of the ragging is not known, but sources have said that the accused student has reportedly apologised to the girl after the incident. But she refused to take back her complaint and demanded that he apologise publicly. The fresher has joined the Institute about a month ago.
RIGHTS-INDIA: Shades of Abu Ghraib in College Ragging Rituals
NEW DELHI, Jun 16 (IPS) - As the annual scrimmage for coveted seats in India’s engineering and medical colleges gets underway, what many students dread is the sadistic ritual of ragging - or hazing - that they expect to undergo at the hands of their seniors.
"I know that the Supreme Court has passed directions ordering the government to take steps to curb ragging but I doubt they can be enforced," says prospective engineering student Prahlad Goyal, who hopes to enter one of the several Indian Institutes of Technology.
On May 7 - moved by the death of Aman Satya Kachroo, a first-year student at a medical college in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh state following a brutal beating by his seniors - the apex court issued orders to all provincial governments to ensure that ragging gets stamped out. Under India’s federal system, health and education are subject to state oversight.
But that was not the first time that the Supreme Court has tried to intervene. In 2006, the court issued directions to the state governments to monitor ragging on college campuses, and to set up a formal committee to study the practice and come up with ways to curb it.
Kachroo's death triggered a nationwide furor. Yet, a week later, a young female engineering student in southern Andhra Pradesh attempted suicide after being put through a ragging ordeal by her seniors that involved ‘strip dancing.’
Goyal’s businessman father told IPS that he would rather fork out money to have Prahlad educated abroad rather than put his son’s life and limb at risk. "Like Aman, Prahlad is an only son," he explained.
"This is open sadism," says Sanjay Pai of the Columbia Asia Referral Hospital in Bangalore. In an interview with IPS, Pai said notions of inferiority or superiority were often involved in cases of ragging.
"I suspect that caste and ethnicity also play a role, but we do not have the data to prove it," Pai said. "If you are to extrapolate from what happens in India - caste-based killings taking place from time to time - and there are numerous examples of this - I think this is one cause, but also, if all castes were the same, ragging would still take place."
In an editorial for the April-June issue of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, written jointly with Prabha S. Chandra of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bangalore, Pai notes that, "alienation based on caste and language may play a role in the higher frequency of ragging in certain situations."
Pai and Chandra admit, in their editorial, that they do not have real answers to why "normal, reasonably intelligent youngsters - often from middle class backgrounds with appropriate upbringing - indulge in senseless and sadistic acts."
In 2001 the Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (CURE) was created. According to CURE’s website, the group was set up as a "non-profit organisation dedicated solely towards the elimination of ragging and promotion of more positive ways of interaction among seniors and ‘freshers’ in Indian universities."
CURE’s documentation of ragging in India presents a gruesome picture. There were 28 deaths and 23 attempted suicides attributed to ragging between 2003 and 2008. Severe ragging continues to be widely prevalent in most college hostels and, in the face of court rulings, university management has only acted to hush up incidents.
According to CURE, ragging - said to have been introduced as part of the public school system set up during British colonial rule - is too often seen by college administrations as a rite of initiation and a necessary evil, rather than a gross violation of human rights.
Apart from maintaining a website, CURE produces an annual periodical on ragging that is widely distributed by mail and e-mail. It also provides online counselling for victims of ragging - which the non-governmental organisation considers to be the biggest fear of any student entering college.
CURE’s studies, published on its website, draw parallels between ragging and what was practiced at the Iraqi prison camp of Abu Ghraib. "Forced sexual acts in public, including stripping in front of same or opposite sex classmates, passing urine in public, forced public masturbation, forced sexual activity," have been recorded, according to the website.
The biggest hurdle CURE faces in carrying out its avowed mission of building up public opinion against ragging is plain denial. College managements deny the existence of ragging to protect their good reputation as well as retain a convenient handle with which to break up legitimate strikes and protests over campus issues.
"We have not seen the regulatory bodies taking punitive action against institutions. We want to see punitive action against institutions which have not implemented anti-ragging provisions," said R.K. Raghavan who heads the committee appointed by the apex court.
Punitive action, said Raghavan, a former director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, could range from cuts in grants for erring institutes to withdrawal of recognition.
"To the onlookers of some of the horrific consequences of ragging, what is startling is that teachers and administrators turn a blind eye towards the issue," Pai and Chandra noted in their editorial.
They have demanded strong action against ragging because "there are far too many indications that violence and bigotry - racial, religious, caste or others - have been on the rise in India over the past two decades or so."
"Violent practices are learned, and passed on from one generation to the next. What we need is a model for terminating ragging, terminating the very idea of deriving pleasure from humiliating another human being," Pai and Chandra opine.
Hank Nuwer, author of several books devoted to hazing, believes that India’s attempts to impose a lifetime ban on those caught ragging are doomed to failure and also likely to have educators mired in appeals and litigation.
"Hazing used to be practiced out in the open in the U.S., but when perpetrators faced expulsion from school and fraternity, plus misdemeanour or felony hazing charges, they took the practice underground," Nuwer wrote in an article published in the Times of India newspaper on Mar. 29.
Nuwer, who recently retired from the Indiana University School of Journalism, wrote that it would take a paradigm shift - where young people themselves begin to universally condemn hazing - before true reform can be expected to become the reality.
"And even if a decrease in ragging/hazing does occur due to toughened national laws in India and the U.S. and elsewhere, I have no doubt hazing will crop up again among students sometime in the future," the author of ‘Wrongs of Passage’ and the ‘Hazing Reader’ noted in his article.
According to Nuwer, hazing and ragging are "true scourges that allow us to see in our young people the kind of viciousness that erupted in the Americans’ holding pens for prisoners of war at Abu Ghraib."
Regulations under consideration and expected to be introduced this month include expulsions, heavy fines, imprisonment and the permanent blacklisting of offenders. Heads of educational institutions who fail to act against the accused could also find themselves subjected to penal action.
(END/2009)
"I know that the Supreme Court has passed directions ordering the government to take steps to curb ragging but I doubt they can be enforced," says prospective engineering student Prahlad Goyal, who hopes to enter one of the several Indian Institutes of Technology.
On May 7 - moved by the death of Aman Satya Kachroo, a first-year student at a medical college in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh state following a brutal beating by his seniors - the apex court issued orders to all provincial governments to ensure that ragging gets stamped out. Under India’s federal system, health and education are subject to state oversight.
But that was not the first time that the Supreme Court has tried to intervene. In 2006, the court issued directions to the state governments to monitor ragging on college campuses, and to set up a formal committee to study the practice and come up with ways to curb it.
Kachroo's death triggered a nationwide furor. Yet, a week later, a young female engineering student in southern Andhra Pradesh attempted suicide after being put through a ragging ordeal by her seniors that involved ‘strip dancing.’
Goyal’s businessman father told IPS that he would rather fork out money to have Prahlad educated abroad rather than put his son’s life and limb at risk. "Like Aman, Prahlad is an only son," he explained.
"This is open sadism," says Sanjay Pai of the Columbia Asia Referral Hospital in Bangalore. In an interview with IPS, Pai said notions of inferiority or superiority were often involved in cases of ragging.
"I suspect that caste and ethnicity also play a role, but we do not have the data to prove it," Pai said. "If you are to extrapolate from what happens in India - caste-based killings taking place from time to time - and there are numerous examples of this - I think this is one cause, but also, if all castes were the same, ragging would still take place."
In an editorial for the April-June issue of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, written jointly with Prabha S. Chandra of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bangalore, Pai notes that, "alienation based on caste and language may play a role in the higher frequency of ragging in certain situations."
Pai and Chandra admit, in their editorial, that they do not have real answers to why "normal, reasonably intelligent youngsters - often from middle class backgrounds with appropriate upbringing - indulge in senseless and sadistic acts."
In 2001 the Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (CURE) was created. According to CURE’s website, the group was set up as a "non-profit organisation dedicated solely towards the elimination of ragging and promotion of more positive ways of interaction among seniors and ‘freshers’ in Indian universities."
CURE’s documentation of ragging in India presents a gruesome picture. There were 28 deaths and 23 attempted suicides attributed to ragging between 2003 and 2008. Severe ragging continues to be widely prevalent in most college hostels and, in the face of court rulings, university management has only acted to hush up incidents.
According to CURE, ragging - said to have been introduced as part of the public school system set up during British colonial rule - is too often seen by college administrations as a rite of initiation and a necessary evil, rather than a gross violation of human rights.
Apart from maintaining a website, CURE produces an annual periodical on ragging that is widely distributed by mail and e-mail. It also provides online counselling for victims of ragging - which the non-governmental organisation considers to be the biggest fear of any student entering college.
CURE’s studies, published on its website, draw parallels between ragging and what was practiced at the Iraqi prison camp of Abu Ghraib. "Forced sexual acts in public, including stripping in front of same or opposite sex classmates, passing urine in public, forced public masturbation, forced sexual activity," have been recorded, according to the website.
The biggest hurdle CURE faces in carrying out its avowed mission of building up public opinion against ragging is plain denial. College managements deny the existence of ragging to protect their good reputation as well as retain a convenient handle with which to break up legitimate strikes and protests over campus issues.
"We have not seen the regulatory bodies taking punitive action against institutions. We want to see punitive action against institutions which have not implemented anti-ragging provisions," said R.K. Raghavan who heads the committee appointed by the apex court.
Punitive action, said Raghavan, a former director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, could range from cuts in grants for erring institutes to withdrawal of recognition.
"To the onlookers of some of the horrific consequences of ragging, what is startling is that teachers and administrators turn a blind eye towards the issue," Pai and Chandra noted in their editorial.
They have demanded strong action against ragging because "there are far too many indications that violence and bigotry - racial, religious, caste or others - have been on the rise in India over the past two decades or so."
"Violent practices are learned, and passed on from one generation to the next. What we need is a model for terminating ragging, terminating the very idea of deriving pleasure from humiliating another human being," Pai and Chandra opine.
Hank Nuwer, author of several books devoted to hazing, believes that India’s attempts to impose a lifetime ban on those caught ragging are doomed to failure and also likely to have educators mired in appeals and litigation.
"Hazing used to be practiced out in the open in the U.S., but when perpetrators faced expulsion from school and fraternity, plus misdemeanour or felony hazing charges, they took the practice underground," Nuwer wrote in an article published in the Times of India newspaper on Mar. 29.
Nuwer, who recently retired from the Indiana University School of Journalism, wrote that it would take a paradigm shift - where young people themselves begin to universally condemn hazing - before true reform can be expected to become the reality.
"And even if a decrease in ragging/hazing does occur due to toughened national laws in India and the U.S. and elsewhere, I have no doubt hazing will crop up again among students sometime in the future," the author of ‘Wrongs of Passage’ and the ‘Hazing Reader’ noted in his article.
According to Nuwer, hazing and ragging are "true scourges that allow us to see in our young people the kind of viciousness that erupted in the Americans’ holding pens for prisoners of war at Abu Ghraib."
Regulations under consideration and expected to be introduced this month include expulsions, heavy fines, imprisonment and the permanent blacklisting of offenders. Heads of educational institutions who fail to act against the accused could also find themselves subjected to penal action.
(END/2009)
Student files ragging complaint, institute terms it blackmail
Kanpur/ Chandigarh , June 12 A student from Kanpur has filed an FIR against 11 of his seniors alleging that he was ragged at an engineering college in Punjab, but the institute has denied the incident. Anand Mohan, a student of Guru Teg Bahadur Institute of Engineering in Chapiyari area of Muktsar in Punjab, accused his seniors of physically assaulting him and making an attempt to set him ablaze.
Anand, in his complaint here, further alleged that two more students-- Tarun Shukla from Barielly in UP and Akhil Sharma from Himachal Pradesh--were also ragged by the seniors following which they fled the institute. However, the institute has dismissed these allegations and termed it as"blackmailing"by the trio.
These students had faxed their complaint to the institute yesterday. Institute principal Sukhdev Singh told PTI over phone that these students were resorting to blackmailing in their bid to get back their fees as they had failed in their first semester examination. "It is their ploy to blame the institute to get back their fees as they failed in their examinations,"he said.
Muktsar police chief Gurpreet Singh Gill said that it was surprising that students levelled allegations of ragging at Kanpur and said no complaint was lodged here.
Anand, in his complaint here, further alleged that two more students-- Tarun Shukla from Barielly in UP and Akhil Sharma from Himachal Pradesh--were also ragged by the seniors following which they fled the institute. However, the institute has dismissed these allegations and termed it as"blackmailing"by the trio.
These students had faxed their complaint to the institute yesterday. Institute principal Sukhdev Singh told PTI over phone that these students were resorting to blackmailing in their bid to get back their fees as they had failed in their first semester examination. "It is their ploy to blame the institute to get back their fees as they failed in their examinations,"he said.
Muktsar police chief Gurpreet Singh Gill said that it was surprising that students levelled allegations of ragging at Kanpur and said no complaint was lodged here.
Ragging’: Sainik School student tries to kill self
Posted: Thursday , Jun 11, 2009 at 0047 hrs IST
With the aim of becoming an Army officer, Rohit Murmu had got admission to the Sainik School in Jhumri Telaiya two years ago. Today, the 14-year-old class VIII student is lying in Sadar Hospital in his hometown Deoghar after slashing his wrists in a case of attempted suicide. His doctors say he out of danger now.
Rohit says he tried to commit suicide after being repeatedly ragged by senior students. “I was fed up. They had tortured me so much that I felt it was better to die than to return to school to face them once again,” he said. He had come home for the summer vacation on May 4 and was to return on June 27.
“On Monday night, he cut the veins of his right hand with a blade. We found him lying in a pool of blood and rushed him to hospital,” said Niru Hansda, Rohit’s mother. His father Manohar Murmu, a railway employee posted at Deoghar’s Jasidih railway station, said Rohit had repeatedly complained about ragging in school. “The senior students used to compel him to wash their clothes and press them. Whenever he defied them, they beat him up,” alleged Murmu.
School’s headmaster Lt Col B S Ghorpade denied receiving a complaint from Rohit. “We are shocked to hear of his case. We are going to inquire into his complaint,” he said. The school is one of 23 educational institutions run by Delhi-based Sainik School Society.
With the aim of becoming an Army officer, Rohit Murmu had got admission to the Sainik School in Jhumri Telaiya two years ago. Today, the 14-year-old class VIII student is lying in Sadar Hospital in his hometown Deoghar after slashing his wrists in a case of attempted suicide. His doctors say he out of danger now.
Rohit says he tried to commit suicide after being repeatedly ragged by senior students. “I was fed up. They had tortured me so much that I felt it was better to die than to return to school to face them once again,” he said. He had come home for the summer vacation on May 4 and was to return on June 27.
“On Monday night, he cut the veins of his right hand with a blade. We found him lying in a pool of blood and rushed him to hospital,” said Niru Hansda, Rohit’s mother. His father Manohar Murmu, a railway employee posted at Deoghar’s Jasidih railway station, said Rohit had repeatedly complained about ragging in school. “The senior students used to compel him to wash their clothes and press them. Whenever he defied them, they beat him up,” alleged Murmu.
School’s headmaster Lt Col B S Ghorpade denied receiving a complaint from Rohit. “We are shocked to hear of his case. We are going to inquire into his complaint,” he said. The school is one of 23 educational institutions run by Delhi-based Sainik School Society.
AP student kills self; family cries foul
Tuesday June 9, 2009, Hyderabad
In what appears to be yet another case of ragging, Devender Kumar, a 20-year-old MCA student in Hyderabad was found dead in Warangal. His family is alleging he chose death because he could not deal with the torture of ragging. The college however denies the charges.
Devender Kumar's body was found dead on a railway track in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh. The second year MCA student at Vasavi college in Hyderabad reportedly could not take the taunts of his seniors in college.
"My sister shifted to Hyderabad so that he could move out of the hostel and she could cook for him and stay with him. But they continued to harass and tease him ," said Devender's brother.
"The college management should take stringent action so that no other student or his family should face such a tragedy," said Devender's sister.
The college management claims it is not a case of death due to ragging.
"We have an anti-ragging committee in college, which has squads all over the campus. So there is no scope for ragging," said Chengappa, Principal, Vasavi College
The railway police are inquiring into the incident.
In what appears to be yet another case of ragging, Devender Kumar, a 20-year-old MCA student in Hyderabad was found dead in Warangal. His family is alleging he chose death because he could not deal with the torture of ragging. The college however denies the charges.
Devender Kumar's body was found dead on a railway track in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh. The second year MCA student at Vasavi college in Hyderabad reportedly could not take the taunts of his seniors in college.
"My sister shifted to Hyderabad so that he could move out of the hostel and she could cook for him and stay with him. But they continued to harass and tease him ," said Devender's brother.
"The college management should take stringent action so that no other student or his family should face such a tragedy," said Devender's sister.
The college management claims it is not a case of death due to ragging.
"We have an anti-ragging committee in college, which has squads all over the campus. So there is no scope for ragging," said Chengappa, Principal, Vasavi College
The railway police are inquiring into the incident.
Ragging victim’s father seeks compensation
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ordered notice of motion on a writ petition by a person who has sought a direction to an engineering college at Karaikal to forward a complaint of ragging of his son to the police and pay him a compensation of Rs.5 lakh for mental agony suffered. He also sought a direction for refunding the money paid by him to the institution for his son’s education.
Justice R.S.Ramanathan said the notice was returnable by June 11. In his petition, Abdul Kareem of Perumbavoor in Ernakulam stated that he had enrolled his son Mahin Sha for B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering at the Bharathiyar College of Engineering and Technology. Initially, he was asked to send a demand draft for Rs.25,000 in the institution’s name. He was asked to pay Rs.2.65 lakh in August last year. Of this, Rs.1.75 lakh was a donation, and the balance, annual fees. Receipt was issued only for the annual fees. The petitioner said his son stayed in a hostel on the college campus. In the guise of ragging, he was tortured by some seniors, who also extracted money. A week after reopening of the college, a second year student asked his son to withdraw Rs.250 for buying liquor. Some other students joined him.
When Mahin Sha withdrew money from an ATM in December last year to pay uniform fees and was on his way to the college counter for making the payment, he was kidnapped by two students, who tortured him at the place where they were staying . When he fell unconscious, the tormentors escaped with the money. Later, fearing for his life, he took a train and reached home. Despite treatment, Mahin Sha was yet to come back to normality. Mr. Kareem said his complaint to the college and request to return the money were in vain. Neither did the institution take action against the culprits nor did it forward the complaint to the police. Mr. Kareem sought a direction to the college to issue transfer and conduct certificates immediately along with original documents submitted by him at the time of admission.
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ordered notice of motion on a writ petition by a person who has sought a direction to an engineering college at Karaikal to forward a complaint of ragging of his son to the police and pay him a compensation of Rs.5 lakh for mental agony suffered. He also sought a direction for refunding the money paid by him to the institution for his son’s education.
Justice R.S.Ramanathan said the notice was returnable by June 11. In his petition, Abdul Kareem of Perumbavoor in Ernakulam stated that he had enrolled his son Mahin Sha for B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering at the Bharathiyar College of Engineering and Technology. Initially, he was asked to send a demand draft for Rs.25,000 in the institution’s name. He was asked to pay Rs.2.65 lakh in August last year. Of this, Rs.1.75 lakh was a donation, and the balance, annual fees. Receipt was issued only for the annual fees. The petitioner said his son stayed in a hostel on the college campus. In the guise of ragging, he was tortured by some seniors, who also extracted money. A week after reopening of the college, a second year student asked his son to withdraw Rs.250 for buying liquor. Some other students joined him.
When Mahin Sha withdrew money from an ATM in December last year to pay uniform fees and was on his way to the college counter for making the payment, he was kidnapped by two students, who tortured him at the place where they were staying . When he fell unconscious, the tormentors escaped with the money. Later, fearing for his life, he took a train and reached home. Despite treatment, Mahin Sha was yet to come back to normality. Mr. Kareem said his complaint to the college and request to return the money were in vain. Neither did the institution take action against the culprits nor did it forward the complaint to the police. Mr. Kareem sought a direction to the college to issue transfer and conduct certificates immediately along with original documents submitted by him at the time of admission.
Thrashed by seniors, student in hospital
OUR CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, May 27: On a day the UGC announced guidelines to curb ragging, a first-year engineering student alleged that he was beaten up with hockey sticks by seniors in his hostel room. Md Wasim, a BTech student of the Dehradun Institute of Technology in Greater Noida, suffered injuries on his head and back and is in hospital.
“It was the last day of their exams and they had got drunk to celebrate. I was in my hostel room with my classmates when they came for me. They were carrying hockey sticks and they went on hitting me. I even got a friend to lock me in, but they broke open the door. They carried a list of names of juniors who had escaped ragging when the session had started and they picked on us,” Wasim said from his hospital bed.
The student, a resident of Badaun in Uttar Pradesh, said a group of 24 seniors had attacked him on Monday afternoon as he pleaded with them to let him go. His parents have filed a police complaint. The college principal, C.L. Verma, said he has set up a commission to investigate the matter and is awaiting a report.
This is not the first such incident in a Greater Noida college. In 2007, six students allegedly stripped and burnt a first-year student at the Apeejay Institute of Architecture and Planning on October 4 in the college hostel. The Uttar Pradesh government recently issued an order banning ragging.
The order, issued in March, said any student caught ragging would be immediately expelled. It also instructed educational institutes to mention the anti-ragging provisions in their prospectus and bar senior students from meeting juniors after 9pm. Any violation could result in the cancellation of their accreditation, the order said.
New Delhi, May 27: On a day the UGC announced guidelines to curb ragging, a first-year engineering student alleged that he was beaten up with hockey sticks by seniors in his hostel room. Md Wasim, a BTech student of the Dehradun Institute of Technology in Greater Noida, suffered injuries on his head and back and is in hospital.
“It was the last day of their exams and they had got drunk to celebrate. I was in my hostel room with my classmates when they came for me. They were carrying hockey sticks and they went on hitting me. I even got a friend to lock me in, but they broke open the door. They carried a list of names of juniors who had escaped ragging when the session had started and they picked on us,” Wasim said from his hospital bed.
The student, a resident of Badaun in Uttar Pradesh, said a group of 24 seniors had attacked him on Monday afternoon as he pleaded with them to let him go. His parents have filed a police complaint. The college principal, C.L. Verma, said he has set up a commission to investigate the matter and is awaiting a report.
This is not the first such incident in a Greater Noida college. In 2007, six students allegedly stripped and burnt a first-year student at the Apeejay Institute of Architecture and Planning on October 4 in the college hostel. The Uttar Pradesh government recently issued an order banning ragging.
The order, issued in March, said any student caught ragging would be immediately expelled. It also instructed educational institutes to mention the anti-ragging provisions in their prospectus and bar senior students from meeting juniors after 9pm. Any violation could result in the cancellation of their accreditation, the order said.
Seniors rag juniors, thrash them
By Our Staff Reporter
Bhopal, May 22:
A case of ragging in Cipet College situated in Piplani area has come to light where seniors forced the juniors to run on college premises and thrashed them. After the incident there was chaos in the College.
After receiving the information of incident police reached at the College and controlled the situation. In this connection police have registered case against the senior accused students and started probing the matter. After ragging the juniors the accused fled from the scene. Police are searching the accused.
According to police Aditya Singh son of SR Singh is first year student in Cipet College. Three days back senior student of the College Ajit Singh asked him to go to senior student Prabhakar and give him birthday wishes. When Aditya wished the senior then he slapped him and asked him to leave the place. Similarly seniors thrashed Vabhav Singh, Anshuman Shukla, Bhushan, Sujit Tiwari, Rohit Shukla, Sandev Devri and Govind. Since three days senior students Ajit Singh, Prabhakar and Medul were thrashing the junior students.
Today junior students opposed this in college canteen then the accused senior students thrashed all the junior students. The accused made the juniors run and thrashed them. In the meanwhile a college student informed the police over the phone. Seeing the police seniors fled from the scene. Then the police took the statements of junior students and got all of them admitted to a private hospital for treatment. They were discharged from the hospital after providing them first aid. Police have registered a case and started probe.
Ragging was going on since six months: Junior student Vaibhav Singh informed that the accused senior students were ragging the juniors since last six months but no one had the courage to reveal this. Taking advantage of this weakness of juniors seniors used to even thrash juniors. But now the situation had gone out of control. The junior student said that they were forced to take help of police as situation had gone out of control. The juniors maintained that police should take stern action against seniors so that in future no senior student can have the courage to rag junior student.
Bhopal, May 22:
A case of ragging in Cipet College situated in Piplani area has come to light where seniors forced the juniors to run on college premises and thrashed them. After the incident there was chaos in the College.
After receiving the information of incident police reached at the College and controlled the situation. In this connection police have registered case against the senior accused students and started probing the matter. After ragging the juniors the accused fled from the scene. Police are searching the accused.
According to police Aditya Singh son of SR Singh is first year student in Cipet College. Three days back senior student of the College Ajit Singh asked him to go to senior student Prabhakar and give him birthday wishes. When Aditya wished the senior then he slapped him and asked him to leave the place. Similarly seniors thrashed Vabhav Singh, Anshuman Shukla, Bhushan, Sujit Tiwari, Rohit Shukla, Sandev Devri and Govind. Since three days senior students Ajit Singh, Prabhakar and Medul were thrashing the junior students.
Today junior students opposed this in college canteen then the accused senior students thrashed all the junior students. The accused made the juniors run and thrashed them. In the meanwhile a college student informed the police over the phone. Seeing the police seniors fled from the scene. Then the police took the statements of junior students and got all of them admitted to a private hospital for treatment. They were discharged from the hospital after providing them first aid. Police have registered a case and started probe.
Ragging was going on since six months: Junior student Vaibhav Singh informed that the accused senior students were ragging the juniors since last six months but no one had the courage to reveal this. Taking advantage of this weakness of juniors seniors used to even thrash juniors. But now the situation had gone out of control. The junior student said that they were forced to take help of police as situation had gone out of control. The juniors maintained that police should take stern action against seniors so that in future no senior student can have the courage to rag junior student.
Alleged ragging leads to death of aged man
Madikeri, May 22 : An aged man, who had gone to protest the alleged ragging of his brother's son, died on the spot during a scuffle, leading to tension in the area. Police said Bharath, who went to Field Marshal Cariappa college for admission, was ragged by senior students yesterday.
When he sounded his parents about this, his father Vishwanath and uncle Raghunath Marala rushed to the college and questioned the students. This led to a messy brawl, in which accused students attacked Marala and when one of them pushed him, he collapsed on the ground and died.
The relatives of Raghunath, alleging that he was murdered by the senior students, refused to take his body from the hospital post-mortem room. However, later they agreed to take away the body on the assurance of police.
In a swift action, Superintendent of police Ramesh Hariharan and Deputy Superintendent of Police Prakash visited the hospital and assured the protestors that the accused would be arrested.
Police had arrested five students Mustafa, Sharath, Yathish, Pradip and Suresh in the case.
--- UNI
When he sounded his parents about this, his father Vishwanath and uncle Raghunath Marala rushed to the college and questioned the students. This led to a messy brawl, in which accused students attacked Marala and when one of them pushed him, he collapsed on the ground and died.
The relatives of Raghunath, alleging that he was murdered by the senior students, refused to take his body from the hospital post-mortem room. However, later they agreed to take away the body on the assurance of police.
In a swift action, Superintendent of police Ramesh Hariharan and Deputy Superintendent of Police Prakash visited the hospital and assured the protestors that the accused would be arrested.
Police had arrested five students Mustafa, Sharath, Yathish, Pradip and Suresh in the case.
--- UNI
Himachal Pradesh Medical College Student Suspended for Ragging
May 20, 2009: Another case of ragging has come to light in Himachal Pradesh where a medical college student was allegedly beaten by a senior for not saluting him.
Ashish Sharma, first year student of Solan Homeopathy College, was allegedly beaten with a rod by his final year senior Yogesh Sahdev for not saluting him.
On May 17, Yogesh got angry with Ashish after the junior did not salute him and later bruised the victim along with his relatives.
A police case has been filed against Yogesh in connection. The college administration has also taken action against the senior student and suspended him for a month.
If found guilty, appropriate measures would be taken against Yogesh as per the Supreme Court directives in this regard, principal of the college said.
Earlier a ragging incident was reported from Rajendra Prasad medical college in state's Kangra district in March this year, in which Aman Kachroo, a first year student, lost his life after being beaten by seniors.
Ashish Sharma, first year student of Solan Homeopathy College, was allegedly beaten with a rod by his final year senior Yogesh Sahdev for not saluting him.
On May 17, Yogesh got angry with Ashish after the junior did not salute him and later bruised the victim along with his relatives.
A police case has been filed against Yogesh in connection. The college administration has also taken action against the senior student and suspended him for a month.
If found guilty, appropriate measures would be taken against Yogesh as per the Supreme Court directives in this regard, principal of the college said.
Earlier a ragging incident was reported from Rajendra Prasad medical college in state's Kangra district in March this year, in which Aman Kachroo, a first year student, lost his life after being beaten by seniors.
Students of Bishop Cotton School allege bullying by seniors
May 20th, 2009
SHIMLA - Two students of the prestigious Bishop Cotton School here have alleged that they were being regularly bullied by their seniors. One of the students was injured after seniors allegedly beat Class 9 students Monday, the family of the victim said Wednesday.
Surjit Singh, father of the victim, said: ‘My son, who got admission in the school three months back, was (being) regularly bullied and assaulted by his seniors in the hostel. On Monday he was again beaten up by his seniors.’
Avtar Singh suffered injuries in the intestines after he was allegedly assaulted by his seniors.
‘We came to know about the incident in the morning (Tuesday). We reached the school in the evening and lodged a complaint with the principal. But he showed ignorance about the incident,’ Surjit Singh told IANS by phone from Jalandhar in Punjab.
‘In the evening we got our son examined at Shimla’s Indira Gandhi Medical College and took him home. This morning he was admitted to the civil hospital at Sultanpur Lodhi near Jalandhar,’ he said.
Another student of the same class Akashdeep Singh Turna has also alleged excesses by seniors.
Akashdeep’s father Kuldeep Singh Turna, a British citizen of Indian origin, told IANS by phone that his son was facing mental and physical torture for the past many months.
‘During the winter vacation (December-February), Akashdeep visited Britain. At that time he was so terrified that he told us that he wouldn’t return to the school. I visited India and met the principal. On the latter’s assurance, we decided to continue with his studies there. Unfortunately, such incidents didn’t end here. Now we have asked our son to leave the school and stay with his guardians,’ he said.
Turna said he has already informed the British High Commission in New Delhi about the incident.
‘This morning I have informed the high commission and asked them to inquire into the matter. Next week I am coming to India to meet the principal,’ he said.
The school headmaster Roy Christopher Robinson, however, said that it was a case of a scuffle between two groups of students.
‘A scuffle occurred on Monday night among students following which a disciplinary committee was constituted.’
‘Indiscipline would not be tolerated on the school campus. Action would be initiated against the guilty,’ he added.
The incident comes less than a fortnight after a clash among some students of another prestigious Lawrence School at Sanawar left 11 children injured, forcing the school authorities to expel seven class 12 students.
Bishop Cotton, one of Asia’s oldest boarding schools, was established in 1859. It will celebrate its 150th anniversary in July. It boasts of alumni like constitutional expert Fali S. Nariman, writer Ruskin Bond, golfer Jeev Milkha Singh and former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh.
SHIMLA - Two students of the prestigious Bishop Cotton School here have alleged that they were being regularly bullied by their seniors. One of the students was injured after seniors allegedly beat Class 9 students Monday, the family of the victim said Wednesday.
Surjit Singh, father of the victim, said: ‘My son, who got admission in the school three months back, was (being) regularly bullied and assaulted by his seniors in the hostel. On Monday he was again beaten up by his seniors.’
Avtar Singh suffered injuries in the intestines after he was allegedly assaulted by his seniors.
‘We came to know about the incident in the morning (Tuesday). We reached the school in the evening and lodged a complaint with the principal. But he showed ignorance about the incident,’ Surjit Singh told IANS by phone from Jalandhar in Punjab.
‘In the evening we got our son examined at Shimla’s Indira Gandhi Medical College and took him home. This morning he was admitted to the civil hospital at Sultanpur Lodhi near Jalandhar,’ he said.
Another student of the same class Akashdeep Singh Turna has also alleged excesses by seniors.
Akashdeep’s father Kuldeep Singh Turna, a British citizen of Indian origin, told IANS by phone that his son was facing mental and physical torture for the past many months.
‘During the winter vacation (December-February), Akashdeep visited Britain. At that time he was so terrified that he told us that he wouldn’t return to the school. I visited India and met the principal. On the latter’s assurance, we decided to continue with his studies there. Unfortunately, such incidents didn’t end here. Now we have asked our son to leave the school and stay with his guardians,’ he said.
Turna said he has already informed the British High Commission in New Delhi about the incident.
‘This morning I have informed the high commission and asked them to inquire into the matter. Next week I am coming to India to meet the principal,’ he said.
The school headmaster Roy Christopher Robinson, however, said that it was a case of a scuffle between two groups of students.
‘A scuffle occurred on Monday night among students following which a disciplinary committee was constituted.’
‘Indiscipline would not be tolerated on the school campus. Action would be initiated against the guilty,’ he added.
The incident comes less than a fortnight after a clash among some students of another prestigious Lawrence School at Sanawar left 11 children injured, forcing the school authorities to expel seven class 12 students.
Bishop Cotton, one of Asia’s oldest boarding schools, was established in 1859. It will celebrate its 150th anniversary in July. It boasts of alumni like constitutional expert Fali S. Nariman, writer Ruskin Bond, golfer Jeev Milkha Singh and former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh.
Student suspended after alleged ragging
Solan (HP), May 20 A senior student of a private homeopathic college has been suspended for a month on charges of alleged ragging, college authorities said here today. The institute&aposs anti ragging committee is also looking into the matter.
The student, Yogesh Singh, a fourth year student, was awarded the punishment after his junior Ashish, a first year student, complained to the college principal that he was being ragged by his senior, they said. According to the complaint, Yogesh"harassed and even slapped" Ashish for not greeting seniors on two occasions when they had met outside college premises, college authorities said.
Police, however, say that the college administration has strongly denied the incident to be linked with ragging and say it was the outcome of a"fight"between students.
Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Parwanoo, Ramesh Pathania, told PTI today that it was not a case of ragging but a"fight".
The college administration says that Yogesh informed his family about the fight and on hearing about it his father and a few other family members visited the college yesterday and beat up two other students when they did not find Ashish, police said.
The student, Yogesh Singh, a fourth year student, was awarded the punishment after his junior Ashish, a first year student, complained to the college principal that he was being ragged by his senior, they said. According to the complaint, Yogesh"harassed and even slapped" Ashish for not greeting seniors on two occasions when they had met outside college premises, college authorities said.
Police, however, say that the college administration has strongly denied the incident to be linked with ragging and say it was the outcome of a"fight"between students.
Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Parwanoo, Ramesh Pathania, told PTI today that it was not a case of ragging but a"fight".
The college administration says that Yogesh informed his family about the fight and on hearing about it his father and a few other family members visited the college yesterday and beat up two other students when they did not find Ashish, police said.
Homeopathy college student fears threat to life from seniors
Posted: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 0300 hrs IST
Ludhiana
For over a month now, Amit Gupta, a first year student of Lord Mahavira Homeopathic Medical College, has failed to summon courage to attend classes at the college. The April 16 incident of alleged ragging and harassment not only resulted in serious physical injuries to Amit but also left him in a mental trauma as he says that he has been getting life-threatening calls ever since he reported the matter to police.
“I am living under a constant fear that the students who beat me up on April 16, might come again and kill me” he says with fear in his voice.
Amit had filed an FIR against four students, three of them from the same college and fourth from an engineering college, who were later arrested in connection with the incident. They were charged with criminal intimidation and voluntarily causing hurt along with wrong restraint.
However, threatening calls from the accused asking him to withdraw the case against them have left Amit mentally upset as he is now afraid to step out and has not been able to attend classes at the college ever since. Amit said that the accused flaunted their political links saying that they could get away with anything
The three of these students are my seniors and have been bullying me for a year now. They used to rag me every now and then initially when I joined the college last year calling me names and passing region-based remarks as I come from Bihar. They humiliated me but I kept my cool knowing very well that I was living away from my home to pursue my studies,” he said.
Ludhiana
For over a month now, Amit Gupta, a first year student of Lord Mahavira Homeopathic Medical College, has failed to summon courage to attend classes at the college. The April 16 incident of alleged ragging and harassment not only resulted in serious physical injuries to Amit but also left him in a mental trauma as he says that he has been getting life-threatening calls ever since he reported the matter to police.
“I am living under a constant fear that the students who beat me up on April 16, might come again and kill me” he says with fear in his voice.
Amit had filed an FIR against four students, three of them from the same college and fourth from an engineering college, who were later arrested in connection with the incident. They were charged with criminal intimidation and voluntarily causing hurt along with wrong restraint.
However, threatening calls from the accused asking him to withdraw the case against them have left Amit mentally upset as he is now afraid to step out and has not been able to attend classes at the college ever since. Amit said that the accused flaunted their political links saying that they could get away with anything
The three of these students are my seniors and have been bullying me for a year now. They used to rag me every now and then initially when I joined the college last year calling me names and passing region-based remarks as I come from Bihar. They humiliated me but I kept my cool knowing very well that I was living away from my home to pursue my studies,” he said.
A life lost to ragging is one too many
Tuesday, 19 May 2009
A life lost to ragging is one too many
Nothing can really excuse the apathy of our society to the malaise of ragging and children dying as a consequence of ragging. Over the last few days, horror stories, each more shocking than the previous one, have appeared in our national media.
On March 8, Amann Kachroo, a 19-year-old student in Himachal Pradesh, was beaten to death by his seniors in the name of "ragging". A few days later a young girl in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, tried to commit suicide because her seniors had made her dance naked, again in the name of ragging.
What kind of society do we live in that our young children, who are at the most vulnerable stage of their emotional evolution, are irreparably hurt and damaged by this brutal assault upon their fragile self-esteem? How can we sit back and involve ourselves with the trivia of our day-to-day routine, when a cruel and inhuman attack on our own young people takes place in full public view in the name of ragging? How bizarre and ironic it is under the guise of bonhomie, senior students are breaking the hearts, and sometimes the will to live too, of freshers in their college?
Ragging or razing has been around for a long time in many countries. According to Harsh Agarwal, co-founder of the NGO Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education, "Ragging, hazing, fagging, bullying, pledging, horse-playing etc. are different terms used in different parts of the world but each signifies the same old practice of welcoming freshers in a barbaric manner".
This phenomenon can be traced back to as early as 7th or 8th century AD.
In Greek culture, new entrants to the sport community were subjected to all kinds of humiliations and teasing to inculcate team spirit. With the passage of time this technique was modified and adopted by the military forces, and from there it finally entered the education system.
Since its inception in the educational arena, ragging underwent several modifications before morphing into an organised form of campus violence. The first ragging related death occurred in 1873 when a freshman from Cornell University fell into a gorge as a consequence of ragging.
After World War I, ragging underwent a massive transformation and acquired its current brutal form. Soldiers returning from war re-entered colleges in the US and brought with them "hazing" (ragging) techniques learnt in military camp. "These techniques were used to make individual fail as an individual and succeed as a team," Mr Agarwal said.
In India, ragging did not really plague our educational institutions because higher education was a privilege enjoyed only by certain sections of society and only the mildest form of teasing was resorted to between members of this privileged elite. After the 60s, the spread of education brought students of different castes and communities and that's when the concept of ragging became a cloak for students of one community to tease and assert their superiority over others. Ragging, thus, acquired casteist overtones with very ugly dimensions and repercussions. And soon it became a matter of peer pressure to participate in ragging.
"During the early 90s, rapid mushrooming of new private engineering and medical colleges led to several disastrous experiments with this old practice of ragging. It made southern India a hub of this brutal activity. During the 90s ragging-related suicides began to increase. In 1997, Tamil Nadu, which was one of the worst affected states, was the first to bring legislation against ragging. In 2001, the Supreme Court banned ragging throughout the country. It was now left to college authorities to enforce this law. This led to complete disappearance of daytime ragging on campus, which was a much healthier and safer mode of interaction, while more threatening and virulent ragging in hostels continued to thrive in most colleges", Mr Agarwal said.
Today ragging is a complex phenomenon. It's a form of violence which has not just casteist but also chauvinistic and gender dimensions, and it would be no exaggeration to say that it has the potential to dangerously disturb harmony and innocence that exist (or should exist) in our educational institutions. From time to time, various authorities have made an attempt to contain and curb ragging as a human rights violation.
The Raghavan Committee, setup by the Supreme Court, had submitted a detailed report with recommendations to curb ragging in 2007. The Supreme Court accepted some of the findings of the Raghavan Committee and issued an interim order making college authorities and functionaries responsible for maintaining a ragging-free environment. FIRs could be lodged by parents and/or college authorities in ragging cases.
In an earlier 2001 case, the Supreme Court has held that educational institutions that fail to curb ragging could lose financial assistance or their affiliation. Though guidelines were laid by the Supreme Court in its order on a petition filed by the Vishwa Jagriti Mission, the court, expressing concern over increasing incidents of ragging, observed that ragging cannot be checked merely by making it a cognisable offence.
Several states have felt the need to reiterate the Supreme Court's order. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra and Gujarat have passed laws or issued circulars banning ragging. These laws and circulars list punishment ranging from disaffiliation and imprisonment to expulsion of guilty students and authorities.
It is obvious, however, that these measures have done little to curb this menace. It is equally clear that as a society we have not given enough thought to this important issue, and because it lacks the sensationalism of other headlines, we tend to let it pass without much comment.
The time has come to declare "zero tolerance" for ragging. One life lost to ragging is one too many, and one young mind permanently disturbed or troubled due to ragging is a collective failure of our society.
From this minute onwards, society as a whole should take a solemn pledge to join as one to root out the menace of ragging from our educational institutions.
By - Jayanthi Natarajan - Jayanthi Natarajan is a Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha and AICC spokesperson.
A life lost to ragging is one too many
Nothing can really excuse the apathy of our society to the malaise of ragging and children dying as a consequence of ragging. Over the last few days, horror stories, each more shocking than the previous one, have appeared in our national media.
On March 8, Amann Kachroo, a 19-year-old student in Himachal Pradesh, was beaten to death by his seniors in the name of "ragging". A few days later a young girl in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, tried to commit suicide because her seniors had made her dance naked, again in the name of ragging.
What kind of society do we live in that our young children, who are at the most vulnerable stage of their emotional evolution, are irreparably hurt and damaged by this brutal assault upon their fragile self-esteem? How can we sit back and involve ourselves with the trivia of our day-to-day routine, when a cruel and inhuman attack on our own young people takes place in full public view in the name of ragging? How bizarre and ironic it is under the guise of bonhomie, senior students are breaking the hearts, and sometimes the will to live too, of freshers in their college?
Ragging or razing has been around for a long time in many countries. According to Harsh Agarwal, co-founder of the NGO Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education, "Ragging, hazing, fagging, bullying, pledging, horse-playing etc. are different terms used in different parts of the world but each signifies the same old practice of welcoming freshers in a barbaric manner".
This phenomenon can be traced back to as early as 7th or 8th century AD.
In Greek culture, new entrants to the sport community were subjected to all kinds of humiliations and teasing to inculcate team spirit. With the passage of time this technique was modified and adopted by the military forces, and from there it finally entered the education system.
Since its inception in the educational arena, ragging underwent several modifications before morphing into an organised form of campus violence. The first ragging related death occurred in 1873 when a freshman from Cornell University fell into a gorge as a consequence of ragging.
After World War I, ragging underwent a massive transformation and acquired its current brutal form. Soldiers returning from war re-entered colleges in the US and brought with them "hazing" (ragging) techniques learnt in military camp. "These techniques were used to make individual fail as an individual and succeed as a team," Mr Agarwal said.
In India, ragging did not really plague our educational institutions because higher education was a privilege enjoyed only by certain sections of society and only the mildest form of teasing was resorted to between members of this privileged elite. After the 60s, the spread of education brought students of different castes and communities and that's when the concept of ragging became a cloak for students of one community to tease and assert their superiority over others. Ragging, thus, acquired casteist overtones with very ugly dimensions and repercussions. And soon it became a matter of peer pressure to participate in ragging.
"During the early 90s, rapid mushrooming of new private engineering and medical colleges led to several disastrous experiments with this old practice of ragging. It made southern India a hub of this brutal activity. During the 90s ragging-related suicides began to increase. In 1997, Tamil Nadu, which was one of the worst affected states, was the first to bring legislation against ragging. In 2001, the Supreme Court banned ragging throughout the country. It was now left to college authorities to enforce this law. This led to complete disappearance of daytime ragging on campus, which was a much healthier and safer mode of interaction, while more threatening and virulent ragging in hostels continued to thrive in most colleges", Mr Agarwal said.
Today ragging is a complex phenomenon. It's a form of violence which has not just casteist but also chauvinistic and gender dimensions, and it would be no exaggeration to say that it has the potential to dangerously disturb harmony and innocence that exist (or should exist) in our educational institutions. From time to time, various authorities have made an attempt to contain and curb ragging as a human rights violation.
The Raghavan Committee, setup by the Supreme Court, had submitted a detailed report with recommendations to curb ragging in 2007. The Supreme Court accepted some of the findings of the Raghavan Committee and issued an interim order making college authorities and functionaries responsible for maintaining a ragging-free environment. FIRs could be lodged by parents and/or college authorities in ragging cases.
In an earlier 2001 case, the Supreme Court has held that educational institutions that fail to curb ragging could lose financial assistance or their affiliation. Though guidelines were laid by the Supreme Court in its order on a petition filed by the Vishwa Jagriti Mission, the court, expressing concern over increasing incidents of ragging, observed that ragging cannot be checked merely by making it a cognisable offence.
Several states have felt the need to reiterate the Supreme Court's order. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra and Gujarat have passed laws or issued circulars banning ragging. These laws and circulars list punishment ranging from disaffiliation and imprisonment to expulsion of guilty students and authorities.
It is obvious, however, that these measures have done little to curb this menace. It is equally clear that as a society we have not given enough thought to this important issue, and because it lacks the sensationalism of other headlines, we tend to let it pass without much comment.
The time has come to declare "zero tolerance" for ragging. One life lost to ragging is one too many, and one young mind permanently disturbed or troubled due to ragging is a collective failure of our society.
From this minute onwards, society as a whole should take a solemn pledge to join as one to root out the menace of ragging from our educational institutions.
By - Jayanthi Natarajan - Jayanthi Natarajan is a Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha and AICC spokesperson.
Nine med students suspended for ragging
Posted: Tuesday , May 19, 2009 at 0417 hrs IST
Nine MBBS students of Motilal Nehru Medical College have been suspended and turned out of the hostel for ragging juniors. Although principal Dr PC Saxena said it was an incident of scuffle between students, sources said the juniors students had lodged a complaint of ragging. In a communication to the principal, Assistant warden Dr RB Kamal also described the incident as ragging and requested the authorities to take strong action. On Friday, some junior students celebrated the a classmate’s birthday in hostel no. 1 on the campus.
The day after, a group of seniors beat them up, accusing them of disturbing their studies. The victims reported the matter to the college authorities who immediately sealed the rooms of the seniors and demanded an explanation. Five students were suspended for six months. The college authorities also informed the police who lodged an FIR against students — Anurag Gupta, Vipin, Himanshu Gupta, Surjeet Singh and PC Rai.
On Monday, another four students were suspended and the police was informed about them.
Nine MBBS students of Motilal Nehru Medical College have been suspended and turned out of the hostel for ragging juniors. Although principal Dr PC Saxena said it was an incident of scuffle between students, sources said the juniors students had lodged a complaint of ragging. In a communication to the principal, Assistant warden Dr RB Kamal also described the incident as ragging and requested the authorities to take strong action. On Friday, some junior students celebrated the a classmate’s birthday in hostel no. 1 on the campus.
The day after, a group of seniors beat them up, accusing them of disturbing their studies. The victims reported the matter to the college authorities who immediately sealed the rooms of the seniors and demanded an explanation. Five students were suspended for six months. The college authorities also informed the police who lodged an FIR against students — Anurag Gupta, Vipin, Himanshu Gupta, Surjeet Singh and PC Rai.
On Monday, another four students were suspended and the police was informed about them.
Three BESU students suspended for a month for ragging
Express News Service
Posted: May 16, 2009 at 0239 hrs IST
Kolkata The Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) has suspended three students after finding them guilty of ragging a first year student. All the three students of third year Architecture Engineering have been suspended for one semester.
The incident occurred in the last week of March at MacDonalds Hall of Residence on the University’s Shibpur campus.
The university authorities received a complaint from the father of the student and formed a committee comprising of the dean of studies, the professor in-charge of student affairs and the head of the Architecture department to look into the matter.
The committee submitted its report in the first week of May. Registrar Biman Bandopadhyay said that since the committee has confirmed charges of physical assault on the student the administration has decided to suspend the students for one semester.
“The students found involved in ragging have not accepted their guilt during investigation. However, on the basis of the report submitted by the disciplinary committee of the university and the complaint of the student, we have decided to suspend the students for one academic semester,” said Ajoy Kumar Ray, Vice-Chancellor of BESU.
Ray said the university had clearly notified to all the students that any act of this kind would be dealt with strongly.
Posted: May 16, 2009 at 0239 hrs IST
Kolkata The Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) has suspended three students after finding them guilty of ragging a first year student. All the three students of third year Architecture Engineering have been suspended for one semester.
The incident occurred in the last week of March at MacDonalds Hall of Residence on the University’s Shibpur campus.
The university authorities received a complaint from the father of the student and formed a committee comprising of the dean of studies, the professor in-charge of student affairs and the head of the Architecture department to look into the matter.
The committee submitted its report in the first week of May. Registrar Biman Bandopadhyay said that since the committee has confirmed charges of physical assault on the student the administration has decided to suspend the students for one semester.
“The students found involved in ragging have not accepted their guilt during investigation. However, on the basis of the report submitted by the disciplinary committee of the university and the complaint of the student, we have decided to suspend the students for one academic semester,” said Ajoy Kumar Ray, Vice-Chancellor of BESU.
Ray said the university had clearly notified to all the students that any act of this kind would be dealt with strongly.
Three students arrested for ragging fresher
Latur, Maharashtra, May 12 : Police today arrested three senior students of a Government Polytechnic institute here in a case of ragging. Additional Superintendent of Police Shirish Sirdeshpande said a first year student of the institute, Akash Balaji Achwale, had yesterday filed a complaint against five senior students for physically harassing him since past few months.
The accused were Sachin Puri, Mahadev Handge, Limbraj Wdawale, Shivraj Ghavale and Amol Surawanshi, he added.
The Shivajinagar Police has registered a case against the accused under Prevention of Ragging Act 1999 and arrested --Satish Puri, Mahadev Handge and Limbarj Wdawale, while the other two were absconding.
The police has launched a search operation to nab the absconding students and further investigation is on, Mr Sirdeshpande said
The accused were Sachin Puri, Mahadev Handge, Limbraj Wdawale, Shivraj Ghavale and Amol Surawanshi, he added.
The Shivajinagar Police has registered a case against the accused under Prevention of Ragging Act 1999 and arrested --Satish Puri, Mahadev Handge and Limbarj Wdawale, while the other two were absconding.
The police has launched a search operation to nab the absconding students and further investigation is on, Mr Sirdeshpande said
2 held for ragging in Udaipur medical college
11 May 2009, 0054 hrs IST, TNN
JAIPUR: In yet another ragging incident in Rajasthan, two students were beaten up ruthlessly by their seniors at RNT Medical College in Udaipur.
Hathipole police, underwhose jurisdiction the college falls, arrested both the accused. A local court remanded them in judicial custody.
The college administration has suspended the two senior students from the college as well as hostel. Principal secretary (medical education
) Lalit Kothari directed the college administration to constitute an inquiry committee and investigate the incident.
According to reports, Sunil Kumar Bhati of Hanumangarh and Gaurav Ladha of Bhilwara, both MBBS first-year students, were returning from college library on Friday evening when Vinod Singh of Sawai Madhopur and Amar Singh of Jhunjhunu stopped them. The seniors, who had failed in the first-year examination, asked them to bend on their knees.
When Sunil and Gaurav resisted, they were beaten. The students reported to Hathipole police, who arrested Vinod and Amar from the hostel premises on Saturday.
Investigating officer Sajjan Singh told TOI that the accused have been held on the charges of disturbing peace. The two were produced before a local court, which sent them to judicial custody. During interrogation, both of them told the police that they were not involved in ragging but were sorting out personal issues, he said.
Meanwhile, the disciplinary committee of the college recorded the statement of all the students and recommended suspension of the accused. At the same time, the junior students were also served notice for not informing the college administration about the incident.
JAIPUR: In yet another ragging incident in Rajasthan, two students were beaten up ruthlessly by their seniors at RNT Medical College in Udaipur.
Hathipole police, underwhose jurisdiction the college falls, arrested both the accused. A local court remanded them in judicial custody.
The college administration has suspended the two senior students from the college as well as hostel. Principal secretary (medical education
) Lalit Kothari directed the college administration to constitute an inquiry committee and investigate the incident.
According to reports, Sunil Kumar Bhati of Hanumangarh and Gaurav Ladha of Bhilwara, both MBBS first-year students, were returning from college library on Friday evening when Vinod Singh of Sawai Madhopur and Amar Singh of Jhunjhunu stopped them. The seniors, who had failed in the first-year examination, asked them to bend on their knees.
When Sunil and Gaurav resisted, they were beaten. The students reported to Hathipole police, who arrested Vinod and Amar from the hostel premises on Saturday.
Investigating officer Sajjan Singh told TOI that the accused have been held on the charges of disturbing peace. The two were produced before a local court, which sent them to judicial custody. During interrogation, both of them told the police that they were not involved in ragging but were sorting out personal issues, he said.
Meanwhile, the disciplinary committee of the college recorded the statement of all the students and recommended suspension of the accused. At the same time, the junior students were also served notice for not informing the college administration about the incident.
Ragging complaint against P. C. Chandra School of Business, Kolkata
Submitted by editor on May 9, 2009 - 14:36
All the juniors were subjected to harsh ragging by seniors. The principal offenders are Bitopan Borah (Roll No.: 720824005), Joydev Shah (720824012), Debanuj Borah (720824008), Subhankar Pal (810824005). Juniors were often asked to strip their clothes and then lighted cigars were thrown on their bare bodies. The four seniors mentioned above often landed in girl’s hostel (near 1A market, salt lake) in inebriated state. Raja Nandy was punched in the eye by Joydev Shaw. Some juniors including Abhijit Das, was hit and poked with iron sticks in their private areas.
Other forms of Ragging going on at PCCSB are:
• Juniors were asked and made to answer vulgar questions.
• Juniors were forced to drink country liquor.
• Juniors were coerced to do acts with sexual overtones.
• Juniors were forced to look at pornographic movies & pictures.
Complaining to college authorities about these perverted acts was in vain, and they turned a deaf ear to our complaints. The then Administrative officer Mr. Gautam Dan & Admission officer Mr. Jitendra Gadhvi, threatened juniors not to disclose anything about the ragging to outsiders, including PTU officials.
Mr. S. Banik, Director, PCCSB mentioned that all PTU officials are corrupt, so there is no point raising the issue to PTU. Mr. S. Banik even commented to our parents that he has paid around Rs 1,00,000/- in cash to Mr. Gautam Banerjee, Regional Head, PTU for marketing purposes of UCPL Group.
Later, we came to know that PCCSB takes donation (around Rs 50,000/-) from the rich students who involve themselves in ragging. So the college is not in a position to take action against offenders.
We have lost one academic year and have paid Rs 74,000/- (Rs 20,000 + Rs 54,000/-) as fees. We have made subsequent requests to the present Administrative officer, Mr Biswajit Sen to refund a portion of our course fees, but without any response.
PCCSB is bringing disgrace to the esteemed PTU. Kindly take appropriate action from your end against the offenders mentioned in this letter and also against PCCSB authorities, according to the National Anti-Ragging Act, to stop recurrence of such incidents in future.
If needed after proper investigation, consider disaffiliating P. C. Chandra School of Business [LC : 824] for failing to curb ragging and non-compliance to university rules and regulations.
All the juniors were subjected to harsh ragging by seniors. The principal offenders are Bitopan Borah (Roll No.: 720824005), Joydev Shah (720824012), Debanuj Borah (720824008), Subhankar Pal (810824005). Juniors were often asked to strip their clothes and then lighted cigars were thrown on their bare bodies. The four seniors mentioned above often landed in girl’s hostel (near 1A market, salt lake) in inebriated state. Raja Nandy was punched in the eye by Joydev Shaw. Some juniors including Abhijit Das, was hit and poked with iron sticks in their private areas.
Other forms of Ragging going on at PCCSB are:
• Juniors were asked and made to answer vulgar questions.
• Juniors were forced to drink country liquor.
• Juniors were coerced to do acts with sexual overtones.
• Juniors were forced to look at pornographic movies & pictures.
Complaining to college authorities about these perverted acts was in vain, and they turned a deaf ear to our complaints. The then Administrative officer Mr. Gautam Dan & Admission officer Mr. Jitendra Gadhvi, threatened juniors not to disclose anything about the ragging to outsiders, including PTU officials.
Mr. S. Banik, Director, PCCSB mentioned that all PTU officials are corrupt, so there is no point raising the issue to PTU. Mr. S. Banik even commented to our parents that he has paid around Rs 1,00,000/- in cash to Mr. Gautam Banerjee, Regional Head, PTU for marketing purposes of UCPL Group.
Later, we came to know that PCCSB takes donation (around Rs 50,000/-) from the rich students who involve themselves in ragging. So the college is not in a position to take action against offenders.
We have lost one academic year and have paid Rs 74,000/- (Rs 20,000 + Rs 54,000/-) as fees. We have made subsequent requests to the present Administrative officer, Mr Biswajit Sen to refund a portion of our course fees, but without any response.
PCCSB is bringing disgrace to the esteemed PTU. Kindly take appropriate action from your end against the offenders mentioned in this letter and also against PCCSB authorities, according to the National Anti-Ragging Act, to stop recurrence of such incidents in future.
If needed after proper investigation, consider disaffiliating P. C. Chandra School of Business [LC : 824] for failing to curb ragging and non-compliance to university rules and regulations.
Sister feels ragging at camp took her life
This was all 21-year-old Sneha Dani had told her sister, Shejal, after returning from a college camp in January. But she did not divulge the details to Shejal in the past four months, and now, she never would.
Sneha allegedly committed suicide on Friday by jumping off the terrace of the seventh-floor Nepean Sea Road apartment she shared with her sister. Their parents stay in Udhagamandalam, where they won a tea factory.
Shejal told DNA on Sunday that Sneha, a second-year BCom student at Sydenham College, had gone to the camp in Dahanu on January 10 with her college mates. "When she came back on January 17, she was in a state of shock. She would just sit quietly... Whenever I gave her food to eat, she behaved as though she had forgotten how to eat. I kept asking her what happened," said Shejal. "But the only answer I got was, 'I want to tell you something...'."
She said there were injury marks on Sneha's forearm and toes when she returned home from the camp. "She called me one night from the camp. She was crying hysterically. I kept asking her what was wrong, but Sneha said she would tell me after coming back home," she said.
Before she left for the camp, Sneha had no problem with her health, said her sister. "But after coming back from the camp, she had to be taken to the King Edward Memorial Hospital, where she was treated for schizophrenia."
All this has made Shejal almost certain that something went horribly wrong at the camp, and made Sneha a changed person. "Perhaps, she was very badly ragged," said Shejal. "All the time she used to say that she wants to tell me about something that happened in the camp."
The only bit of information which Sneha gave to Shejal was that her best friend treated her badly at the camp and her roommates harassed her.
Shejal is trying to convince her parents to lodge a police complaint against the people who were with Sneha at the camp. "I want to know what exactly happened there. I want justice for Sneha," said Shejal. Asked whether they would file a case, she said that she was discussing the issue with her parents.
Sydenham College principal MB Agalkar, when contacted by DNA, said she was not aware of the incident of Sneha committing suicide, and would not be able to make any comment until the college reopens on Monday.
Sneha allegedly committed suicide on Friday by jumping off the terrace of the seventh-floor Nepean Sea Road apartment she shared with her sister. Their parents stay in Udhagamandalam, where they won a tea factory.
Shejal told DNA on Sunday that Sneha, a second-year BCom student at Sydenham College, had gone to the camp in Dahanu on January 10 with her college mates. "When she came back on January 17, she was in a state of shock. She would just sit quietly... Whenever I gave her food to eat, she behaved as though she had forgotten how to eat. I kept asking her what happened," said Shejal. "But the only answer I got was, 'I want to tell you something...'."
She said there were injury marks on Sneha's forearm and toes when she returned home from the camp. "She called me one night from the camp. She was crying hysterically. I kept asking her what was wrong, but Sneha said she would tell me after coming back home," she said.
Before she left for the camp, Sneha had no problem with her health, said her sister. "But after coming back from the camp, she had to be taken to the King Edward Memorial Hospital, where she was treated for schizophrenia."
All this has made Shejal almost certain that something went horribly wrong at the camp, and made Sneha a changed person. "Perhaps, she was very badly ragged," said Shejal. "All the time she used to say that she wants to tell me about something that happened in the camp."
The only bit of information which Sneha gave to Shejal was that her best friend treated her badly at the camp and her roommates harassed her.
Shejal is trying to convince her parents to lodge a police complaint against the people who were with Sneha at the camp. "I want to know what exactly happened there. I want justice for Sneha," said Shejal. Asked whether they would file a case, she said that she was discussing the issue with her parents.
Sydenham College principal MB Agalkar, when contacted by DNA, said she was not aware of the incident of Sneha committing suicide, and would not be able to make any comment until the college reopens on Monday.
Delhi: Another ragging casualty
Perhaps the biggest opportunity missed by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance coalition government, which has reigned, even if not ruled, in New Delhi for the past five years, was to implement systemic reforms in education. Under septuagenarian Union HRD minister Arjun Singh, who was preoccupied with politicising higher education rather than reforming it in the interest of the world’s largest youth population, Indian education marked time, sliding imperceptibly downwards.
Take for instance the inability of the HRD ministry to stamp out the ragging menace in the country’s 431 universities and 21,000 colleges. The ‘lynching’ to death on March 8 of Aman Kachru (19), a medical undergraduate student of the Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, glaringly indicated the stark reality that ragging is alive on the country’s campuses despite repeated admonitions of the Supreme Court.
“In the absence of stern deterrents, the ragging tradition will persist and college authorities will continue to label ragging deaths as suicides due to academic pressure. Moreover right now thousands of ragging incidents are unreported, because teachers and senior students continue to believe that ragging is a healthy interactive personality development exercise. The media only reports sensational cases and parents and relatives fail to understand the pain of victims,” says Harsh Agarwal, a former ragging victim who runs the Delhi-based CURE (Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education).
Predictably the tragic ragging death of young Aman Kachru in Himachal, which drew poignant electronic media coverage, has evoked a traditional knee-jerk response from the Delhi-based University Grants Commission (UGC), which supervises higher education in India. “The commission has given an ultimatum to educational institutions to either take preventive steps to combat ragging or face funding cuts,” said Harminder Kaur Chauhan, joint director of UGC, to media persons in Chandigarh, adding that a high-powered committee has been formed to curb ragging from the next academic session, and colleges and universities have been told to detail punishments for ragging in their prospectuses.
Likewise in Delhi UGC chairman Dr. S.K. Thorat spoke of convening a conclave of all 17 regulators and monitoring councils — from AICTE to MCI — to formulate tough new anti-ragging regulations. A conclave draft reportedly contains provisions for cancellation and rustication of students indulging in ragging for two to four semesters, and withdrawal of UGC recognition to institutions.
But educationists in the national capital feel that unless all the 50 recommendations of the R.K. Raghavan Committee, appointed by the Supreme Court to suggest ways and means to stampout the ragging menace from institutions, are implemented, this scourge can’t be contained. The Raghavan Committee was appointed in December 2006 by the HRD ministry following a Supreme Court directive, and submitted its report with 50 recommendations to the apex court in May 2007, which accepted them on February 11, 2008. “I am confident that if all the Raghavan Committee recommendations are followed and implemented, the ragging menace can be curbed,” says Dr. Rajendra Prasad, principal of Ramjas College, who served as a member on the Raghavan Committee. “One of the major recomme-ndations overlooked by the Union HRD and home ministries, is to make ragging a punishable crime under the Indian Penal Code, 1860,” he adds.
Meanwhile, shell-shocked by his son’s ragging murder, Prof. Rajender Kachru, currently teaching in the Dar-es-Salaam University in Tanzania, has started an Aman Movement to root out this sadistic ritual from India’s campuses. The prime objective of the Aman Movement is to ensure that educational institutions adopt a “zero tolerance” policy towards ragging and initiate strict action against students found guilty of it.
“Eight years on and two Supreme Court-appointed committees later, the celebrated public interest litigation method of reforming India did not come to the rescue of Aman Satya Kachru. What the Supreme Court process did do, instead, was to make the state governments and HRD ministry lazy. They gave up passing and implementing anti-ragging laws. The few states that did so, as the Raghavan committee shockingly found, have not notified them,” writes activist Shivam Vij on his website, www.stop ragging.org.
And so until the next casualty.
Autar Nehru (Delhi)
Take for instance the inability of the HRD ministry to stamp out the ragging menace in the country’s 431 universities and 21,000 colleges. The ‘lynching’ to death on March 8 of Aman Kachru (19), a medical undergraduate student of the Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, glaringly indicated the stark reality that ragging is alive on the country’s campuses despite repeated admonitions of the Supreme Court.
“In the absence of stern deterrents, the ragging tradition will persist and college authorities will continue to label ragging deaths as suicides due to academic pressure. Moreover right now thousands of ragging incidents are unreported, because teachers and senior students continue to believe that ragging is a healthy interactive personality development exercise. The media only reports sensational cases and parents and relatives fail to understand the pain of victims,” says Harsh Agarwal, a former ragging victim who runs the Delhi-based CURE (Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education).
Predictably the tragic ragging death of young Aman Kachru in Himachal, which drew poignant electronic media coverage, has evoked a traditional knee-jerk response from the Delhi-based University Grants Commission (UGC), which supervises higher education in India. “The commission has given an ultimatum to educational institutions to either take preventive steps to combat ragging or face funding cuts,” said Harminder Kaur Chauhan, joint director of UGC, to media persons in Chandigarh, adding that a high-powered committee has been formed to curb ragging from the next academic session, and colleges and universities have been told to detail punishments for ragging in their prospectuses.
Likewise in Delhi UGC chairman Dr. S.K. Thorat spoke of convening a conclave of all 17 regulators and monitoring councils — from AICTE to MCI — to formulate tough new anti-ragging regulations. A conclave draft reportedly contains provisions for cancellation and rustication of students indulging in ragging for two to four semesters, and withdrawal of UGC recognition to institutions.
But educationists in the national capital feel that unless all the 50 recommendations of the R.K. Raghavan Committee, appointed by the Supreme Court to suggest ways and means to stampout the ragging menace from institutions, are implemented, this scourge can’t be contained. The Raghavan Committee was appointed in December 2006 by the HRD ministry following a Supreme Court directive, and submitted its report with 50 recommendations to the apex court in May 2007, which accepted them on February 11, 2008. “I am confident that if all the Raghavan Committee recommendations are followed and implemented, the ragging menace can be curbed,” says Dr. Rajendra Prasad, principal of Ramjas College, who served as a member on the Raghavan Committee. “One of the major recomme-ndations overlooked by the Union HRD and home ministries, is to make ragging a punishable crime under the Indian Penal Code, 1860,” he adds.
Meanwhile, shell-shocked by his son’s ragging murder, Prof. Rajender Kachru, currently teaching in the Dar-es-Salaam University in Tanzania, has started an Aman Movement to root out this sadistic ritual from India’s campuses. The prime objective of the Aman Movement is to ensure that educational institutions adopt a “zero tolerance” policy towards ragging and initiate strict action against students found guilty of it.
“Eight years on and two Supreme Court-appointed committees later, the celebrated public interest litigation method of reforming India did not come to the rescue of Aman Satya Kachru. What the Supreme Court process did do, instead, was to make the state governments and HRD ministry lazy. They gave up passing and implementing anti-ragging laws. The few states that did so, as the Raghavan committee shockingly found, have not notified them,” writes activist Shivam Vij on his website, www.stop ragging.org.
And so until the next casualty.
Autar Nehru (Delhi)
7 Sanawar students sent home for ragging
2 May 2009, 0206 hrs IST, Jagdish Bhatt, TNN
SHIMLA: From college campuses, ragging appears to be trickling down to high schools now. Sanawar-based Lawrence School sent home seven Class XII
students who were suspected to have been ragging juniors in the residential public school.
Headmaster Praveen Vashisht did not call it `rustication' but made it clear that the students, whom he charged with manhandling some juniors, would not be allowed back. ``I will not tolerate violence by students
, or for that matter, teachers, in any form as long as I am the headmaster,'' Vashisht told TOI on Friday.
He had, moments earlier, turned down the request of parents of the affected children to allow them back, saying the matter would be decided by the school board.
Vashisht refused to elaborate on the form of violence meted out to the juniors and would not refer to the incident as ragging but sources said the seven students had, indeed, ragged some boys of Class XI on Monday night. The seven students were from families in Delhi, Chandigarh and Punjab, they said.
When the matter reached the headmaster, he set up a two-member committee of senior staff to probe the incident and report within 24 hours. The issue was later referred to a three-member disciplinary committee, which decided that such incidents should not be tolerated in the school in view of the increasing cases of violent ragging, like the one in Himachal's Tanda medical college which left fresher Amann Kachroo dead. Once the decision was made, all seven students were escorted home by teachers on Wednesday night.
SHIMLA: From college campuses, ragging appears to be trickling down to high schools now. Sanawar-based Lawrence School sent home seven Class XII
students who were suspected to have been ragging juniors in the residential public school.
Headmaster Praveen Vashisht did not call it `rustication' but made it clear that the students, whom he charged with manhandling some juniors, would not be allowed back. ``I will not tolerate violence by students
, or for that matter, teachers, in any form as long as I am the headmaster,'' Vashisht told TOI on Friday.
He had, moments earlier, turned down the request of parents of the affected children to allow them back, saying the matter would be decided by the school board.
Vashisht refused to elaborate on the form of violence meted out to the juniors and would not refer to the incident as ragging but sources said the seven students had, indeed, ragged some boys of Class XI on Monday night. The seven students were from families in Delhi, Chandigarh and Punjab, they said.
When the matter reached the headmaster, he set up a two-member committee of senior staff to probe the incident and report within 24 hours. The issue was later referred to a three-member disciplinary committee, which decided that such incidents should not be tolerated in the school in view of the increasing cases of violent ragging, like the one in Himachal's Tanda medical college which left fresher Amann Kachroo dead. Once the decision was made, all seven students were escorted home by teachers on Wednesday night.
Girl commits suicide, family blames it on ragging
Published on Tue, Apr 21, 2009
New Delhi: There has been another case of alleged ragging leading to the death of a student in Ahmedabad. An 18-year old student of a nursing college has committed suicide.
Ankita Vegda, a first year nursing student of the Singhi Institute of Nursing jumped to her death from her hostel room on Monday. Those close to her say she has been depressed for the past two weeks.
Her family alleges she was fed up of being ragged by her seniors and was driven to take the extreme step.
Ankita's mother, Valiben Vegda says, "There were nail marks on her body. I think she has been strangulated to death."
However, the police say there's no evidence of ragging and a case of accidental death has been registered. An investigation has begun.
The college authorities too are rejecting the ragging theory. They say they received no complaint of the kind from the victim's family.
Principal Singhi Institute of Nursing, Bharti Shukla says, "I am very surprised. There was no complaint whatsoever of ragging. No complaint at all. The girl was a quiet and good girl."
New Delhi: There has been another case of alleged ragging leading to the death of a student in Ahmedabad. An 18-year old student of a nursing college has committed suicide.
Ankita Vegda, a first year nursing student of the Singhi Institute of Nursing jumped to her death from her hostel room on Monday. Those close to her say she has been depressed for the past two weeks.
Her family alleges she was fed up of being ragged by her seniors and was driven to take the extreme step.
Ankita's mother, Valiben Vegda says, "There were nail marks on her body. I think she has been strangulated to death."
However, the police say there's no evidence of ragging and a case of accidental death has been registered. An investigation has begun.
The college authorities too are rejecting the ragging theory. They say they received no complaint of the kind from the victim's family.
Principal Singhi Institute of Nursing, Bharti Shukla says, "I am very surprised. There was no complaint whatsoever of ragging. No complaint at all. The girl was a quiet and good girl."
Goa University students allege ragging, seniors cry foul
April 14th, 2009 - 1:03 pm ICT by IANS
masters students of Goa University have accused their seniors of ragging and making vulgar remarks. The second year students have rubbished the allegations, saying that a professor they had accused of sexual harassment has instigated the juniors against them.
In their complaint to university officials, MA Political Science women students have accused the seniors of ragging them over a period of several months. They claimed that the women in the second year made “vulgar remarks” and “humiliated” them.
“A sub committee has already been formed to probe the ragging allegations. it will file its report within 15 days,” Goa University registrar Mohan Sangodkar told IANS Tuesday.
“We have a zero tolerance policy with regard to ragging and will not spare anyone who is involved in the act,” he added.
Sangodkar said that ragging by the second year MA Political Science students was first reported in January and was looked into by the anti-ragging committee, which had suggested that a sub committee be formed to probe the matter thoroughly.
However, the students accused of ragging have claimed that a professor they had complained against to the Goa State Women’s Commission was trying to extract revenge through the juniors.
The second year students had alleged in October last year that a senior professor attached to the political science department was sexually harassing some students.
“The sexual harassment came to light after one of our batch mates blurted out the horror story to us. We complained to the university authorities but to no avail so we told the women’s commission about it. Now the professor has tried to instigate the freshers against us,” one of the second year students told IANS.
While the college authorities have refused to comment on the sexual harassment aspect, the Goa State Women’s Commission has acknowledged receiving an oral complaint from students in October 2008.
“We did hear the students out orally. They complained of sexual harassment and molestation by a professor but we require a written complaint to proceed. The moment we get that an enquiry will be initiated,” said Pramod Salgaokar, chairman of the women’s commission.
masters students of Goa University have accused their seniors of ragging and making vulgar remarks. The second year students have rubbished the allegations, saying that a professor they had accused of sexual harassment has instigated the juniors against them.
In their complaint to university officials, MA Political Science women students have accused the seniors of ragging them over a period of several months. They claimed that the women in the second year made “vulgar remarks” and “humiliated” them.
“A sub committee has already been formed to probe the ragging allegations. it will file its report within 15 days,” Goa University registrar Mohan Sangodkar told IANS Tuesday.
“We have a zero tolerance policy with regard to ragging and will not spare anyone who is involved in the act,” he added.
Sangodkar said that ragging by the second year MA Political Science students was first reported in January and was looked into by the anti-ragging committee, which had suggested that a sub committee be formed to probe the matter thoroughly.
However, the students accused of ragging have claimed that a professor they had complained against to the Goa State Women’s Commission was trying to extract revenge through the juniors.
The second year students had alleged in October last year that a senior professor attached to the political science department was sexually harassing some students.
“The sexual harassment came to light after one of our batch mates blurted out the horror story to us. We complained to the university authorities but to no avail so we told the women’s commission about it. Now the professor has tried to instigate the freshers against us,” one of the second year students told IANS.
While the college authorities have refused to comment on the sexual harassment aspect, the Goa State Women’s Commission has acknowledged receiving an oral complaint from students in October 2008.
“We did hear the students out orally. They complained of sexual harassment and molestation by a professor but we require a written complaint to proceed. The moment we get that an enquiry will be initiated,” said Pramod Salgaokar, chairman of the women’s commission.
Student ragged to near blindness in Coimbatore
Saturday, April 11, 2009, (Coimbatore)
In another brutal incident of ragging, Akhil Dev, a first year student of a college in Coimbatore, is close to losing his eye sight.
The 20-year old student was allegedly thrashed by his seniors late in the night on March 7 - the same day 19-year-old medical student, Aman Kachroo, died of ragging in Himachal Pradesh. He suffered severe eye injury and a broken jaw.
Speaking to NDTV, Akhil said the seniors who ragged me are criminals. I don't want anyone to go through the same agony.
Describing his ordeal, Akhil said, "They were five people in all and threatened to kill me if I went back." He also said that he will fight back.
Coimbatore City police have lodged an FIR. The college principal has reportedly suspended a few students and had ordered an inquiry.
The incident occurred even after the Supreme Court came down heavily on college authorities on ragging.
The apex court had given an ultimatum saying people indulging in ragging must be punished and any delay in taking action by the institution may lead to financial aid being stopped.
The court also said if the university is satisfied with initial inquiry, it can suspend the student and immediately inform police.
The state governments have also been directed to implement Raghavan committee guidelines to prevent ragging.
This incident of ragging comes just after a 19-year-old Aman Kachroo, a medical student was allegedly ragged to death by his seniors at the Rajendra Prasad government medical college in Himachal's Kangra district.
Aman was ragged because he was not a local. A group of drunk seniors had allegedly harassed him on earlier occasions, as well.
Ever since they lost their son to ragging, the Kachroos have been on a mission to end ragging on campuses once and for all. The Supreme Court later suspended the principal for not acting promptly to save Aman.
In another brutal incident of ragging, Akhil Dev, a first year student of a college in Coimbatore, is close to losing his eye sight.
The 20-year old student was allegedly thrashed by his seniors late in the night on March 7 - the same day 19-year-old medical student, Aman Kachroo, died of ragging in Himachal Pradesh. He suffered severe eye injury and a broken jaw.
Speaking to NDTV, Akhil said the seniors who ragged me are criminals. I don't want anyone to go through the same agony.
Describing his ordeal, Akhil said, "They were five people in all and threatened to kill me if I went back." He also said that he will fight back.
Coimbatore City police have lodged an FIR. The college principal has reportedly suspended a few students and had ordered an inquiry.
The incident occurred even after the Supreme Court came down heavily on college authorities on ragging.
The apex court had given an ultimatum saying people indulging in ragging must be punished and any delay in taking action by the institution may lead to financial aid being stopped.
The court also said if the university is satisfied with initial inquiry, it can suspend the student and immediately inform police.
The state governments have also been directed to implement Raghavan committee guidelines to prevent ragging.
This incident of ragging comes just after a 19-year-old Aman Kachroo, a medical student was allegedly ragged to death by his seniors at the Rajendra Prasad government medical college in Himachal's Kangra district.
Aman was ragged because he was not a local. A group of drunk seniors had allegedly harassed him on earlier occasions, as well.
Ever since they lost their son to ragging, the Kachroos have been on a mission to end ragging on campuses once and for all. The Supreme Court later suspended the principal for not acting promptly to save Aman.
17-hr siege of JU heads
The vice-chancellor and three other senior officials of Jadavpur University had to spend 17 hours in captivity for suspending a student found guilty of ragging, a punishable offence.
Students from various engineering departments lifted the blockade on “humanitarian ground” around 2.30pm on Thursday and allowed vice-chancellor P.N. Ghosh, pro vice-chancellor Sidhartha Dutta and two other officials to leave Aurobindo Bhavan on the campus. Ghosh and Dutta suffer from high blood pressure.
The students, however, threatened to continue with their agitation till the authorities revoked their decision, a possibility that Dutta ruled out.
“We were shocked to see the way the students kept two elderly persons — the VC and pro VC — confined for 17 hours at a stretch to press for an unjust demand,” said a teacher.
The gherao started at 8pm on Wednesday, moments after the university’s executive committee ratified its decision to suspend Rajiv Das, a third-year student of mechanical engineering, for a semester.
Kamal Krishna Halder, a first-year student of international relations, had complained that Rajiv had ragged him and beaten him up in the hostel.
All students in JU and other engineering institutions are required to give an undertaking stating that they would not take part in ragging.
“Following a Supreme Court order, the Centre and the states have enacted laws banning ragging, verbal or physical. The punishment meted out to the student is in accordance with the recommendations of the Raghavan Committee that the Centre had set up to suggest ways to curb ragging. The question of withdrawing the suspension does not arise,” said pro VC Dutta.
The authorities, he added, have decided on the six-month suspension considering the gravity of the crime.
The students, however, stressed that the protests would continue till the suspension was revoked.
“We will conduct campaigns in classes against the decision and also hold meetings to spread awareness about the issue,” said Dishari De, the assistant general secretary of the Faculty of Engineering Students’ Union.
“The accused student will lose a year. Suspension, far from discouraging ragging, kills the bonding among students. Such punitive measures had failed to stop ragging on the campus. What we need are more awareness campaigns,” Dishari said.
The defiant note apart, some students were happy with the council’s decision. “We hope the punishment will serve as an effective deterrent to the criminal offence,” said a second-year student of English honours.
Some engineering students boycotted classes on Thursday but decided to resume normal activities from Friday.
Students from various engineering departments lifted the blockade on “humanitarian ground” around 2.30pm on Thursday and allowed vice-chancellor P.N. Ghosh, pro vice-chancellor Sidhartha Dutta and two other officials to leave Aurobindo Bhavan on the campus. Ghosh and Dutta suffer from high blood pressure.
The students, however, threatened to continue with their agitation till the authorities revoked their decision, a possibility that Dutta ruled out.
“We were shocked to see the way the students kept two elderly persons — the VC and pro VC — confined for 17 hours at a stretch to press for an unjust demand,” said a teacher.
The gherao started at 8pm on Wednesday, moments after the university’s executive committee ratified its decision to suspend Rajiv Das, a third-year student of mechanical engineering, for a semester.
Kamal Krishna Halder, a first-year student of international relations, had complained that Rajiv had ragged him and beaten him up in the hostel.
All students in JU and other engineering institutions are required to give an undertaking stating that they would not take part in ragging.
“Following a Supreme Court order, the Centre and the states have enacted laws banning ragging, verbal or physical. The punishment meted out to the student is in accordance with the recommendations of the Raghavan Committee that the Centre had set up to suggest ways to curb ragging. The question of withdrawing the suspension does not arise,” said pro VC Dutta.
The authorities, he added, have decided on the six-month suspension considering the gravity of the crime.
The students, however, stressed that the protests would continue till the suspension was revoked.
“We will conduct campaigns in classes against the decision and also hold meetings to spread awareness about the issue,” said Dishari De, the assistant general secretary of the Faculty of Engineering Students’ Union.
“The accused student will lose a year. Suspension, far from discouraging ragging, kills the bonding among students. Such punitive measures had failed to stop ragging on the campus. What we need are more awareness campaigns,” Dishari said.
The defiant note apart, some students were happy with the council’s decision. “We hope the punishment will serve as an effective deterrent to the criminal offence,” said a second-year student of English honours.
Some engineering students boycotted classes on Thursday but decided to resume normal activities from Friday.
It's rivalry, not ragging: OMC principal
8 Apr 2009, 0332 hrs IST, TNN
HYDERABAD: Junior students
of the Osmania Medical College, who were allegedly subjected to ragging, said the seniors targeted them on April 2 as they refused to obeythem. And, the issue came out in the open because they felt humiliated after the incident.
The juniors also alleged that their seniors threatened to repeat the act if they complained to the college officials. The college authorities, however, dismissed the incident as driven by group rivalry between the first and second-year students. "The two batches used to have trouble adjusting with each other. This cannot be considered ragging as many times they have had open fights," OMC principal G Shailaja said.
During the investigation, police found that 12 students of MBBS II year hadseverely ragged their juniors. They registered a case under section 4 of the AP Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1997, against them.
On Tuesday, police arrested Manish, Pranithraj Patel, V Srikanth Naik, Sandeep Reddy, B Ratna Kumar, Ranjeet Kumar, Manideep, B Varuntej and Pratush.
"A hunt is on to arrest Mithun Chakraborthy, J Avinash and Sunil," deputy commissioner of police (East Zone) N Shiva Shankar Reddy said.
HYDERABAD: Junior students
of the Osmania Medical College, who were allegedly subjected to ragging, said the seniors targeted them on April 2 as they refused to obeythem. And, the issue came out in the open because they felt humiliated after the incident.
The juniors also alleged that their seniors threatened to repeat the act if they complained to the college officials. The college authorities, however, dismissed the incident as driven by group rivalry between the first and second-year students. "The two batches used to have trouble adjusting with each other. This cannot be considered ragging as many times they have had open fights," OMC principal G Shailaja said.
During the investigation, police found that 12 students of MBBS II year hadseverely ragged their juniors. They registered a case under section 4 of the AP Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1997, against them.
On Tuesday, police arrested Manish, Pranithraj Patel, V Srikanth Naik, Sandeep Reddy, B Ratna Kumar, Ranjeet Kumar, Manideep, B Varuntej and Pratush.
"A hunt is on to arrest Mithun Chakraborthy, J Avinash and Sunil," deputy commissioner of police (East Zone) N Shiva Shankar Reddy said.
Three students held for ragging
Published by: Deepak Rana
Published: Tue, 07 Apr 2009 at 15:31 IST
Muzaffarnagar: Three students of a management college have been suspended and a case was registered against them for allegedly ragging a student.
A case has been registered following a complaint filed by Margub Ali, a student of BBA, against three students of Deendayal Management College -- Sumit, Prashant and Sudan-- for allegedly beating him and threatening him during ragging, police said.
Meanwhile, the college Principal D C Mittal told reporters here today that the students were suspended yesterday following the complaint against them.
Published: Tue, 07 Apr 2009 at 15:31 IST
Muzaffarnagar: Three students of a management college have been suspended and a case was registered against them for allegedly ragging a student.
A case has been registered following a complaint filed by Margub Ali, a student of BBA, against three students of Deendayal Management College -- Sumit, Prashant and Sudan-- for allegedly beating him and threatening him during ragging, police said.
Meanwhile, the college Principal D C Mittal told reporters here today that the students were suspended yesterday following the complaint against them.
MBA student suspended for ragging
Express News Service
Posted: Apr 06, 2009 at 0407 hrs IST
Pune In an alleged case of ragging at the Indian Institute of Cost and Management Studies and Research (IndSearch), Law College Road, on Saturday suspended a first year MBA (marketing) student. The student allegedly misbehaved with a second year MBA (HR) student on April 2 . According to a press note issued by the director of IndSearch Dr Ashok Joshi, on April 2, the first year student took the second year student to a hill at the backside of MIT College and asked him to remove his clothes. “The second year student informed about the incident to associate dean of post-graduate programme N M Vechalekar. The student alleged that he was dropped back to the college scantily clad,” said the press note. The institute took immediate action and constituted an enquiry committee. The incident has also been conveyed to the parents of both the students. The committee found the first year student prima facie guilty and suspended him.
“The committee, however, also decided to make an enquiry of the complainant too to take appropriate action," said the press note. The incident has been reported to the Deccan Gymkhana police station by the institute.
Posted: Apr 06, 2009 at 0407 hrs IST
Pune In an alleged case of ragging at the Indian Institute of Cost and Management Studies and Research (IndSearch), Law College Road, on Saturday suspended a first year MBA (marketing) student. The student allegedly misbehaved with a second year MBA (HR) student on April 2 . According to a press note issued by the director of IndSearch Dr Ashok Joshi, on April 2, the first year student took the second year student to a hill at the backside of MIT College and asked him to remove his clothes. “The second year student informed about the incident to associate dean of post-graduate programme N M Vechalekar. The student alleged that he was dropped back to the college scantily clad,” said the press note. The institute took immediate action and constituted an enquiry committee. The incident has also been conveyed to the parents of both the students. The committee found the first year student prima facie guilty and suspended him.
“The committee, however, also decided to make an enquiry of the complainant too to take appropriate action," said the press note. The incident has been reported to the Deccan Gymkhana police station by the institute.
Barbaric ragging is common: report
Forcing freshers into group sex and night-long physical abuse are the most horrendous, but common, forms of ragging in Indian educational institutions, according to a report submitted by the NGO Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (CURE) to the Planning Commission. As government agencies do not have any data on ragging cases in India, the NGO, Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (CURE), presented a report on its findings to a group of educationists.
Incidents of gangrape of a first year student in Kerala, a girl being forced into group sex in Bengal and the piercing of the hand of a student in Agartala left Planning Commission members B.L. Mungekar and Sayeeda Hameed flabbergasted. “I cannot imagine such an uncivilised attitude is allowed in our educational institutions,” Mungekar, member education, said after the presentation.
In some medical colleges, students belonging to upper castes abused those who got through under the quota system introduced in the last academic year, the report said.
Incidents of gangrape of a first year student in Kerala, a girl being forced into group sex in Bengal and the piercing of the hand of a student in Agartala left Planning Commission members B.L. Mungekar and Sayeeda Hameed flabbergasted. “I cannot imagine such an uncivilised attitude is allowed in our educational institutions,” Mungekar, member education, said after the presentation.
In some medical colleges, students belonging to upper castes abused those who got through under the quota system introduced in the last academic year, the report said.
Students face action for false complaint
Posted: Apr 03, 2009 at 0419 hrs IST
Ludhiana Three students of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, who had alleged ragging at the hands of seniors and lodged a complaint with the police, are in troubled waters. The police have found their complaint baseless and are contemplating action against the three.
Bhupinder Singh, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Sarabha Nagar, said: “The complaint is totally false. We have already inquired into the matter and found that the complaint was motivated. The boys wanted to take revenge from the group they had a scuffle with and used ragging as an excuse. This is unacceptable and we will take action against the students.”
The DSP added: “The boys told us that they were ragged in front of the entire class and some university officials. The claims are totally false.”
The three students of the university — two first-year student and one in the third-year — had complained to the area police alleging that they had been ragged by the seniors.
The university also released a statement today signed by Registrar Dr S K Jand. “Verbal abuse and ragging by seniors is not true. However, some students, not belonging to either GADVASU or PAU, entered the hostel on March 31 and manhandled three final-year veterinary students. They escaped through Hostel No 2 of PAU. On receiving the information, the authorities of GADVASU and PAU reached the hostel and also called the police. The manhandled students, accompanied by police personnel, went to Hostel No. 2 in search of the accused but no untoward incident of any kind took place.”
The statement further reads: “On April 1, there was an argument between a few first-year and final-year veterinary students and we are inquiring into the matter. There is absolute peace on the GADVASU campus and appropriate action will be taken by the university against those involved in these incidents. The authorities of both GADVASU and PAU are also taking steps to strengthen entry and exit checking on the campus. Various committees to keep a watch against ragging as per the recommendations of the Raghawan Committee are in place and that there has been no incidence of ragging in GADVASU.”
Ludhiana Three students of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, who had alleged ragging at the hands of seniors and lodged a complaint with the police, are in troubled waters. The police have found their complaint baseless and are contemplating action against the three.
Bhupinder Singh, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Sarabha Nagar, said: “The complaint is totally false. We have already inquired into the matter and found that the complaint was motivated. The boys wanted to take revenge from the group they had a scuffle with and used ragging as an excuse. This is unacceptable and we will take action against the students.”
The DSP added: “The boys told us that they were ragged in front of the entire class and some university officials. The claims are totally false.”
The three students of the university — two first-year student and one in the third-year — had complained to the area police alleging that they had been ragged by the seniors.
The university also released a statement today signed by Registrar Dr S K Jand. “Verbal abuse and ragging by seniors is not true. However, some students, not belonging to either GADVASU or PAU, entered the hostel on March 31 and manhandled three final-year veterinary students. They escaped through Hostel No 2 of PAU. On receiving the information, the authorities of GADVASU and PAU reached the hostel and also called the police. The manhandled students, accompanied by police personnel, went to Hostel No. 2 in search of the accused but no untoward incident of any kind took place.”
The statement further reads: “On April 1, there was an argument between a few first-year and final-year veterinary students and we are inquiring into the matter. There is absolute peace on the GADVASU campus and appropriate action will be taken by the university against those involved in these incidents. The authorities of both GADVASU and PAU are also taking steps to strengthen entry and exit checking on the campus. Various committees to keep a watch against ragging as per the recommendations of the Raghawan Committee are in place and that there has been no incidence of ragging in GADVASU.”
Five students of MP university expelled for ragging
Published by: Noor Khan
Published: Thu, 02 Apr 2009 at 13:50 IST
Indore: Five students of the Devi Ahilya University here have been expelled on charges of indulging in group ragging.
University sources today said the ragging incident took place at the hostel for International Institute for Professional Studies.
The expulsion was ordered yesterday following a complaint lodged by Yadvendra Singh Solanki, a student of the MBA IInd semester, they said.
As per the complaint, five students had on the night of March 31 forced Solanki to remove his clothes and perform indecent acts.
The sources said the decision to expel the students was taken on the basis of an investigation into Solanki's complaint.
The expelled students are: Prateek Jain, Sidhartha Agrawal, Mayank Singh, Harshwardhan Singh and Ravi Bidar.
University Vice-Chancellor Rajkamal told reporters that these students have no place in the varsity.
Ragging was a serious crime which will be dealt with strictly, he asserted.
Published: Thu, 02 Apr 2009 at 13:50 IST
Indore: Five students of the Devi Ahilya University here have been expelled on charges of indulging in group ragging.
University sources today said the ragging incident took place at the hostel for International Institute for Professional Studies.
The expulsion was ordered yesterday following a complaint lodged by Yadvendra Singh Solanki, a student of the MBA IInd semester, they said.
As per the complaint, five students had on the night of March 31 forced Solanki to remove his clothes and perform indecent acts.
The sources said the decision to expel the students was taken on the basis of an investigation into Solanki's complaint.
The expelled students are: Prateek Jain, Sidhartha Agrawal, Mayank Singh, Harshwardhan Singh and Ravi Bidar.
University Vice-Chancellor Rajkamal told reporters that these students have no place in the varsity.
Ragging was a serious crime which will be dealt with strictly, he asserted.
Student alleges ragging, college says he's an eve-teaser
Published on Sat, Mar 28, 2009 at 11:04
Dhanbad (Ranchi): A student of engineering from Jharkhand has filed a complaint against his college seniors for allegedly ragging him.
In his complaint, Ashutosh - a second-year student of mechanical engineering at BIT-Sindhri – says four of his seniors forced him into do “demeaning work”. He alleged he was beaten up when he refused.
“At 12:30 pm, my seniors took me to their room and asked me to do some wrong things. When I refused, they beat me,” he alleges.
However, BIT administration refutes the charges. The director of the college, S K Singh, claims that Ashutosh was involved in an eve teasing incident.
“He is a second year student so it can't be a case of ragging. We have a disciplinary committee report on him,” Singh says.
The police say they are investigating the matter. “I have appointed two policemen to look into the case. We will take action as per our findings,” says inspector Amarnath
Dhanbad (Ranchi): A student of engineering from Jharkhand has filed a complaint against his college seniors for allegedly ragging him.
In his complaint, Ashutosh - a second-year student of mechanical engineering at BIT-Sindhri – says four of his seniors forced him into do “demeaning work”. He alleged he was beaten up when he refused.
“At 12:30 pm, my seniors took me to their room and asked me to do some wrong things. When I refused, they beat me,” he alleges.
However, BIT administration refutes the charges. The director of the college, S K Singh, claims that Ashutosh was involved in an eve teasing incident.
“He is a second year student so it can't be a case of ragging. We have a disciplinary committee report on him,” Singh says.
The police say they are investigating the matter. “I have appointed two policemen to look into the case. We will take action as per our findings,” says inspector Amarnath
Ragging charge in medical college
Siliguri, March 23: First year students of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital have alleged that their seniors had asked them to “enact vulgar scenes” at the freshers’ welcome held yesterday.
A general diary was lodged with Matigara police last evening, alleging “ragging” and “assault”. No complaint has been submitted to the principal of the college, which does not have an anti-ragging cell. The programme had been organised by the second year students under the aegis of the SFI, which runs the college union.
Most of the new comers to the college refused to speak today. However, one of them on condition of anonymity, said: “We were called in groups of two and three on the stage and given vulgar subjects to enact. They asked us obscene questions. It was a humiliating situation for the girls and boys alike. We were hesitant to act out the scenes at first, but gave in eventually for fear of being victimised in future.”
Another first year student, while giving an example of the “vulgarities”, said: “A girl was summoned with three boys on stage. Each boy was told to be a brand of soap and demonstrate how they would bathe the girl.”
The SFI is carrying out a signature campaign among the first year students to suggest that there was nothing controversial in the freshers' welcome programme. “We will submit the signature campaign to the principal by tomorrow,” said Ruval Ganguly, the SFI secretary of the union.
The officer in charge of the Matigara police station, Debabrata Jha, denied having received any complaint on ragging. “Ragging? What ragging? I don’t think any compliant has been filed.”
Earlier, when The Telegraph had called up the Matigara police station, a person who identified himself as the duty officer, had read out the complaint over the phone.
“I have heard about the ragging, but nobody has complained to me about the incident as yet,” said J.B. Saha, the acting principal of the college.
The Supreme Court had recently ruled that it was upon educational institutions to file an FIR if an incident of harassment was brought to their notice. Otherwise, it had said, their funds tap could be turned off. Heads of institutions or wardens (of hostels) would not be absolved of their liabilities even if the victim or parents had already filed an FIR, the court had clarified.
The organising members of the programme for freshers were all from the SFI, said Tushar Kanti Sarkar, the vice-president of the AIDSO, the student wing of the SUCI. “They rule the roost here and such instances of ragging have been going on for a long time.” He alleged that AIDSO members were beaten up when they protested.
Denying the charges, the student wing of the CPM said the AIDSO had brought in outsiders when the programme was going on to create chaos.
“The AIDSO had lost all the seats in the recent elections held in the college. They are just trying to get some publicity by levelling these allegations. They got outsiders and assaulted some of our members for which we have lodged an FIR against them. We have also complained to the principal,” said Ganguly.
The college confirmed that it had received a complaint from the SFI (against the AIDSO). “We will set up an inquiry committee to probe the charges (of assault levelled by the SFI),” Saha said.
A general diary was lodged with Matigara police last evening, alleging “ragging” and “assault”. No complaint has been submitted to the principal of the college, which does not have an anti-ragging cell. The programme had been organised by the second year students under the aegis of the SFI, which runs the college union.
Most of the new comers to the college refused to speak today. However, one of them on condition of anonymity, said: “We were called in groups of two and three on the stage and given vulgar subjects to enact. They asked us obscene questions. It was a humiliating situation for the girls and boys alike. We were hesitant to act out the scenes at first, but gave in eventually for fear of being victimised in future.”
Another first year student, while giving an example of the “vulgarities”, said: “A girl was summoned with three boys on stage. Each boy was told to be a brand of soap and demonstrate how they would bathe the girl.”
The SFI is carrying out a signature campaign among the first year students to suggest that there was nothing controversial in the freshers' welcome programme. “We will submit the signature campaign to the principal by tomorrow,” said Ruval Ganguly, the SFI secretary of the union.
The officer in charge of the Matigara police station, Debabrata Jha, denied having received any complaint on ragging. “Ragging? What ragging? I don’t think any compliant has been filed.”
Earlier, when The Telegraph had called up the Matigara police station, a person who identified himself as the duty officer, had read out the complaint over the phone.
“I have heard about the ragging, but nobody has complained to me about the incident as yet,” said J.B. Saha, the acting principal of the college.
The Supreme Court had recently ruled that it was upon educational institutions to file an FIR if an incident of harassment was brought to their notice. Otherwise, it had said, their funds tap could be turned off. Heads of institutions or wardens (of hostels) would not be absolved of their liabilities even if the victim or parents had already filed an FIR, the court had clarified.
The organising members of the programme for freshers were all from the SFI, said Tushar Kanti Sarkar, the vice-president of the AIDSO, the student wing of the SUCI. “They rule the roost here and such instances of ragging have been going on for a long time.” He alleged that AIDSO members were beaten up when they protested.
Denying the charges, the student wing of the CPM said the AIDSO had brought in outsiders when the programme was going on to create chaos.
“The AIDSO had lost all the seats in the recent elections held in the college. They are just trying to get some publicity by levelling these allegations. They got outsiders and assaulted some of our members for which we have lodged an FIR against them. We have also complained to the principal,” said Ganguly.
The college confirmed that it had received a complaint from the SFI (against the AIDSO). “We will set up an inquiry committee to probe the charges (of assault levelled by the SFI),” Saha said.
INDIA: Violent ragging videos a big draw on internet
The Times of India
Friday, March 20, 2009
By Shreya Roy Chowdhury
New Delhi --- The picture quality is far from perfect but what is happening is clear enough. It is a video of a ragging session in progress. The lower part of the senior's face is covered with a handkerchief. He has his fresher victim -- head covered with a balaclava -- up against the wall and is slapping him around with at least two cameras (one visible in the video) recording the act.
"Chaar ladko ko patak diya sadak pe ," says the senior to scare the boy whose cries cause much hilarity. In between a voice tells the senior to let go the kid; the response is: "Kya chhor doon yaar? Tameez sikhani parti isko yaar." Towards the end, another joins in. The video ends at 5:11 minutes but the violence may not have.
The blurry video is nothing to write home about. But the description is stark: "a first year guy being ragged by senior students." The category is 'Entertainment'. It was posted on a video-sharing site on December 3, 2007 and has been viewed over 14,000 times -- not a great performance, but not bad either.
Online videos of violent ragging are rare but its other forms -- stripping, lipstick smears and duck walks -- are many. One series has about half a dozen clips of freshers being stripped of their shirts. Seniors paw at their faces and limbs while another set, compounding the shame and documenting the proceedings on their mobiles. The clips, filmed without consent, find their way onto the net. As for their victims, temporary embarrassment has been rendered permanent and personal humiliation, public.
"It has spread everywhere. People rag on social networking sites, make MMSes and circulate them. College principals and directors don't even know," says Harsh Agarwal of Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (CURE), an anti-ragging online group started in 2001. Agarwal relates the story of a medical-school student who had his social networking account spammed with scraps from seniors. "They would tell him what to post on whose account and when. The language was filthy. The student had to create a fake account and through that he sent me the link," he recalls.
Psychologist Avdesh Sharma says that the new technology helps immortalize the act. Seniors rag because it gives them a sense of being empowered. Recording it allows them to repeat the experience in the absence of further opportunities. "It works like sexual abuse. For some students the scars remain and the only way to get rid of them is to be in a situation where they are able to inflict them. Filming allows them to share their moment of empowerment with others who don't take moral responsibility for the act but continue to watch it," he says.
In May 2007, the Supreme Court directed educational institutions to register criminal cases against those indulging in ragging after accepting a report on the subject by the RK Raghavan committee. Yet ragging has continued.
"Our society accepts all kinds of atrocities including rape. There is no guarantee of protection. The kids come from rich families and know they can get away," says social scientist Shiv Viswanathan. "If a BMW case can take so long to be resolved, how long will a ragging case last?" he continues, "the parents don't protest and students wait for their turn. They beat up some other guy next year and the continuity of sadism is maintained."
An argument made in defence of ragging says that it is the best way to break the ice with seniors. Agarwal disagrees. He suggests that authorities become aware of psychological studies and phenomenon such as the Stanford Prison Experiment or the Miligram Experiment which offer some insight into the psychology of ragging, need to be studied carefully to understand this problem and for an appropriate solution.
Friday, March 20, 2009
By Shreya Roy Chowdhury
New Delhi --- The picture quality is far from perfect but what is happening is clear enough. It is a video of a ragging session in progress. The lower part of the senior's face is covered with a handkerchief. He has his fresher victim -- head covered with a balaclava -- up against the wall and is slapping him around with at least two cameras (one visible in the video) recording the act.
"Chaar ladko ko patak diya sadak pe ," says the senior to scare the boy whose cries cause much hilarity. In between a voice tells the senior to let go the kid; the response is: "Kya chhor doon yaar? Tameez sikhani parti isko yaar." Towards the end, another joins in. The video ends at 5:11 minutes but the violence may not have.
The blurry video is nothing to write home about. But the description is stark: "a first year guy being ragged by senior students." The category is 'Entertainment'. It was posted on a video-sharing site on December 3, 2007 and has been viewed over 14,000 times -- not a great performance, but not bad either.
Online videos of violent ragging are rare but its other forms -- stripping, lipstick smears and duck walks -- are many. One series has about half a dozen clips of freshers being stripped of their shirts. Seniors paw at their faces and limbs while another set, compounding the shame and documenting the proceedings on their mobiles. The clips, filmed without consent, find their way onto the net. As for their victims, temporary embarrassment has been rendered permanent and personal humiliation, public.
"It has spread everywhere. People rag on social networking sites, make MMSes and circulate them. College principals and directors don't even know," says Harsh Agarwal of Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (CURE), an anti-ragging online group started in 2001. Agarwal relates the story of a medical-school student who had his social networking account spammed with scraps from seniors. "They would tell him what to post on whose account and when. The language was filthy. The student had to create a fake account and through that he sent me the link," he recalls.
Psychologist Avdesh Sharma says that the new technology helps immortalize the act. Seniors rag because it gives them a sense of being empowered. Recording it allows them to repeat the experience in the absence of further opportunities. "It works like sexual abuse. For some students the scars remain and the only way to get rid of them is to be in a situation where they are able to inflict them. Filming allows them to share their moment of empowerment with others who don't take moral responsibility for the act but continue to watch it," he says.
In May 2007, the Supreme Court directed educational institutions to register criminal cases against those indulging in ragging after accepting a report on the subject by the RK Raghavan committee. Yet ragging has continued.
"Our society accepts all kinds of atrocities including rape. There is no guarantee of protection. The kids come from rich families and know they can get away," says social scientist Shiv Viswanathan. "If a BMW case can take so long to be resolved, how long will a ragging case last?" he continues, "the parents don't protest and students wait for their turn. They beat up some other guy next year and the continuity of sadism is maintained."
An argument made in defence of ragging says that it is the best way to break the ice with seniors. Agarwal disagrees. He suggests that authorities become aware of psychological studies and phenomenon such as the Stanford Prison Experiment or the Miligram Experiment which offer some insight into the psychology of ragging, need to be studied carefully to understand this problem and for an appropriate solution.
Gurgaon engineering student brutally ragged
Published by: Deepak Rana
Published: Mon, 16 Mar 2009 at 10:22 IST
Gurgaon: At a time when nation is talking of making most stringent anti-ragging laws, another case has come to light where an engineering student was brutally beaten by other students in the college.
Nishant Gharsa, a fourth-year student at the Anupama College of Engineering was allegedly beaten so badly that he had to be admitted to a hospital in Gurgaon. He received serious injuries in the abdomen, chest and particularly in his private parts.
Doctors who treated Nishant said that there was internal bleeding and swelling in his private parts.
Surendra Gharsa, Nishant's father and a retired government employee, said, 'The bullies had been hitting my son and many others since first year. College administrative head is also a part of this crime.'
It is worth mentioning here that the victim was tortured from the time he took admission in the college. He had complained to the college authorities several times but no action was taken.
Published: Mon, 16 Mar 2009 at 10:22 IST
Gurgaon: At a time when nation is talking of making most stringent anti-ragging laws, another case has come to light where an engineering student was brutally beaten by other students in the college.
Nishant Gharsa, a fourth-year student at the Anupama College of Engineering was allegedly beaten so badly that he had to be admitted to a hospital in Gurgaon. He received serious injuries in the abdomen, chest and particularly in his private parts.
Doctors who treated Nishant said that there was internal bleeding and swelling in his private parts.
Surendra Gharsa, Nishant's father and a retired government employee, said, 'The bullies had been hitting my son and many others since first year. College administrative head is also a part of this crime.'
It is worth mentioning here that the victim was tortured from the time he took admission in the college. He had complained to the college authorities several times but no action was taken.
Girl attempts suicide after ragging
14 Mar 2009, 0245 hrs IST, TNN
BAPATLA (GUNTUR): Less than a week after a medical student
lost his life to ragging in Himachal Pradesh, an agriculture engineering student in
Andhra Pradesh tried tokill herself after her seniors forced her to dance nude. ( Watch )
A complaint filed by the girl's father with the police on Thursday said she drank pesticides after the shameful incident in the girls' hostel of Government Agriculture Engineering College in Bapatla town of Guntur district a fortnight ago. The 20-year-old girl was in a coma until Thursday when she narrated her harrowing tale to her parents.
Too weak to speak, she wrote down the entire incident at the girls' hostel and the names of the girls who ragged her on a piece of paper and gave it to her parents. The shocked parents immediately lodged the complaint.
Bapatla police station's sub-inspector Balaji said on Friday that all the five students — Najma, Sahitya, Sravanthi, Soujanya and Vanitha — named in the complaint would be booked.
Principal P V Satyanarayana said the college has suspended the five girls.
Her relatives said the girl was being harassed by her seniors ever since she joined the hostel, attached to a food technology college. She had told her parents, who live in Urlam village of Srikulam district about it, but they persuaded her to stay back. The hostel had an inmate strength of 25 girls.
Last Sunday, Aman Kachroo, a 19-year-old first-year student of a medical college in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, died after he was severely beaten during ragging by seniors.
BAPATLA (GUNTUR): Less than a week after a medical student
lost his life to ragging in Himachal Pradesh, an agriculture engineering student in
Andhra Pradesh tried tokill herself after her seniors forced her to dance nude. ( Watch )
A complaint filed by the girl's father with the police on Thursday said she drank pesticides after the shameful incident in the girls' hostel of Government Agriculture Engineering College in Bapatla town of Guntur district a fortnight ago. The 20-year-old girl was in a coma until Thursday when she narrated her harrowing tale to her parents.
Too weak to speak, she wrote down the entire incident at the girls' hostel and the names of the girls who ragged her on a piece of paper and gave it to her parents. The shocked parents immediately lodged the complaint.
Bapatla police station's sub-inspector Balaji said on Friday that all the five students — Najma, Sahitya, Sravanthi, Soujanya and Vanitha — named in the complaint would be booked.
Principal P V Satyanarayana said the college has suspended the five girls.
Her relatives said the girl was being harassed by her seniors ever since she joined the hostel, attached to a food technology college. She had told her parents, who live in Urlam village of Srikulam district about it, but they persuaded her to stay back. The hostel had an inmate strength of 25 girls.
Last Sunday, Aman Kachroo, a 19-year-old first-year student of a medical college in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, died after he was severely beaten during ragging by seniors.
HP students charged with murder for ragging death
11 Mar 2009, 0143 hrs IST, TNN
DHARAMSALA: The four third year students of Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College at Tanda in Kangra district, arrested for allegedly beating to
death their junior duringragging, have now been slapped wth murder charges. All four accused have been arrested under section 302 of IPC. Earlier, they were accused of culpable homicide (section 304) not amounting to murder. They have been also booked under the anti-ragging ordinance.
Amann Kachroo, 19, died on Sunday, hours after being ragged by his seniors the previous night. According to the forensic report, he died of brain haemorrhage induced by injury inflicted during excessive beating. His distraught family has sought the strictest penalty against the offenders.
All the accused are now in police custody. While Ajay Verma and Naveen Verma, who were arrested first, have been sent to custody till March 13, the other two — Mohit Sharma and Abhinav Verma — surrendered before the Dharamsala district and sessions court on Wednesday. They have been sent to police custody till March 16, Kangra SP Atul Fulzule told TOI.
Meanwhile, facing flak, chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said all steps would be taken to ensure to that the entire state was ragging free.
Asked to elaborate on the role of the college principal, health minister Rajiv Bindal said a magisterial probe had been ordered even as the police are investigated the case.
"The internal administration of medical colleges in the state will be improved," he said.
In another swift measure, principal secretary, health, Deepak Sanan said a new principal would also be appointed in the medical college where the incident took place to replace Suresh Sankhayan. The latter has offered to put in his papers in the wake of the shocking incident.
Expressing outrage over the incident, student bodies have held both the college administration and state government responsible for turning a blind eye to the problem of ragging that plagues other colleges as well.
In another incident last year, authorities failed to take deterrent action against students of Ayurveda College, Paprola, who were accused of brutally beating new entrants after taking them to a distant place beyond the college premises.
DHARAMSALA: The four third year students of Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College at Tanda in Kangra district, arrested for allegedly beating to
death their junior duringragging, have now been slapped wth murder charges. All four accused have been arrested under section 302 of IPC. Earlier, they were accused of culpable homicide (section 304) not amounting to murder. They have been also booked under the anti-ragging ordinance.
Amann Kachroo, 19, died on Sunday, hours after being ragged by his seniors the previous night. According to the forensic report, he died of brain haemorrhage induced by injury inflicted during excessive beating. His distraught family has sought the strictest penalty against the offenders.
All the accused are now in police custody. While Ajay Verma and Naveen Verma, who were arrested first, have been sent to custody till March 13, the other two — Mohit Sharma and Abhinav Verma — surrendered before the Dharamsala district and sessions court on Wednesday. They have been sent to police custody till March 16, Kangra SP Atul Fulzule told TOI.
Meanwhile, facing flak, chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said all steps would be taken to ensure to that the entire state was ragging free.
Asked to elaborate on the role of the college principal, health minister Rajiv Bindal said a magisterial probe had been ordered even as the police are investigated the case.
"The internal administration of medical colleges in the state will be improved," he said.
In another swift measure, principal secretary, health, Deepak Sanan said a new principal would also be appointed in the medical college where the incident took place to replace Suresh Sankhayan. The latter has offered to put in his papers in the wake of the shocking incident.
Expressing outrage over the incident, student bodies have held both the college administration and state government responsible for turning a blind eye to the problem of ragging that plagues other colleges as well.
In another incident last year, authorities failed to take deterrent action against students of Ayurveda College, Paprola, who were accused of brutally beating new entrants after taking them to a distant place beyond the college premises.
‘Ragging’ row still haunts NMR Engg College
Last Updated : 25 Feb 2009 02:32:29 PM IST
The alleged ragging at Nalla Malla Reddy Engineering College near Uppal here continues to smoulder.
After three students had been beaten black and blue by their seniors, necessitating hospitalisation of one of them, the parents of juniors on Tuesday went to the college and demanded safety of their children. They wanted the seniors, their parents and even the staff of the college who were supporting them to tender an unconditional apolgy for the incidents of ragging that had taken place in the last few days.
A few days ago, on the college day function, juniors became targets of attack by the seniors.
Though the authorities dismissed the incident as having nothing to do with ragging, the parents of the victims and other junior students insist that the juniors are at the receiving end and unless some kind of protection is given to them, it would be difficult for them to continue in the college.
Three juniors _ Hemanth Reddy, Anupam and Keshav Rao Hedgar _ were beaten up by their seniors during the annual day function for not according them enough `respect’.
While the victims allege ragging, the college management dubs it as a clash between two groups of students. ``There is no ragging involved in these incidents according to our preliminary enquiry,’’ said principal of Nall Malla Reddy college P Siva Rama Prasad.
Meanwhile, the AP State Council of Higher Education officials has ordered the Commisionerate of Technical Education to probe the matter.
Addressing newspersons at his office APSCHE Chairman KC Reddy said that he was aware of the incidents at Nalla Malla Reddy College and that he had sought an explanation from the management.
He made it clear that ragging was something that cannot be tolerated and recalled the recent Supreme Court direction that such colleges could even face the risk of losing recognition.
In a related development, a complaint has been lodged with the Uppal police by a girl student of the college alleging that Hemanth Reddy was harassing her using vulgar and abusive language.
``We have received a complaint from one of the junior students and are investigating,’’ Uppal police inspector B Bhaskar said, adding that their investigation revealed that there was no incidents of ragging on the campus.
The final-year students, who beat up the juniors, are yet to be arrested.
The alleged ragging at Nalla Malla Reddy Engineering College near Uppal here continues to smoulder.
After three students had been beaten black and blue by their seniors, necessitating hospitalisation of one of them, the parents of juniors on Tuesday went to the college and demanded safety of their children. They wanted the seniors, their parents and even the staff of the college who were supporting them to tender an unconditional apolgy for the incidents of ragging that had taken place in the last few days.
A few days ago, on the college day function, juniors became targets of attack by the seniors.
Though the authorities dismissed the incident as having nothing to do with ragging, the parents of the victims and other junior students insist that the juniors are at the receiving end and unless some kind of protection is given to them, it would be difficult for them to continue in the college.
Three juniors _ Hemanth Reddy, Anupam and Keshav Rao Hedgar _ were beaten up by their seniors during the annual day function for not according them enough `respect’.
While the victims allege ragging, the college management dubs it as a clash between two groups of students. ``There is no ragging involved in these incidents according to our preliminary enquiry,’’ said principal of Nall Malla Reddy college P Siva Rama Prasad.
Meanwhile, the AP State Council of Higher Education officials has ordered the Commisionerate of Technical Education to probe the matter.
Addressing newspersons at his office APSCHE Chairman KC Reddy said that he was aware of the incidents at Nalla Malla Reddy College and that he had sought an explanation from the management.
He made it clear that ragging was something that cannot be tolerated and recalled the recent Supreme Court direction that such colleges could even face the risk of losing recognition.
In a related development, a complaint has been lodged with the Uppal police by a girl student of the college alleging that Hemanth Reddy was harassing her using vulgar and abusive language.
``We have received a complaint from one of the junior students and are investigating,’’ Uppal police inspector B Bhaskar said, adding that their investigation revealed that there was no incidents of ragging on the campus.
The final-year students, who beat up the juniors, are yet to be arrested.
College students file FIR against seniors for ragging
Published by: Noor Khan
Published: Wed, 18 Feb 2009 at 08:23 IST
Udaipur, Feb 17 : Students of a college here have lodged an FIR against their seniors for ragging.
Abhinandan Surana and Neelesh Pathak, students of first year BCA of the department of Computer Science and IT, Janardan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth lodged an FIR against five seniors alleging misbehaviour.
They alleged that the accused forced themselves into their room on Monday night. They beat them, made them take off their shirts and made video clips.
The angry students protested before the collector's office demanding action against the accused students and submitted a memorandum to the collector and the SP.
Director of the Institute, Dr S S Sarangevot told PTI that the incident took place outside the campus. So the police should inquire into the matter.
Published: Wed, 18 Feb 2009 at 08:23 IST
Udaipur, Feb 17 : Students of a college here have lodged an FIR against their seniors for ragging.
Abhinandan Surana and Neelesh Pathak, students of first year BCA of the department of Computer Science and IT, Janardan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth lodged an FIR against five seniors alleging misbehaviour.
They alleged that the accused forced themselves into their room on Monday night. They beat them, made them take off their shirts and made video clips.
The angry students protested before the collector's office demanding action against the accused students and submitted a memorandum to the collector and the SP.
Director of the Institute, Dr S S Sarangevot told PTI that the incident took place outside the campus. So the police should inquire into the matter.
Ragged in the name of 'Intro' in campus
15 Feb 2009, 2052 hrs IST, Rajiv Mani, TNN
ALLAHABAD: Even as the Supreme Court has cracked its whip on everyone who are found to be indulged in ragging, the menace in a milder form has sustained its existence on the campus of Allahabad University in the name of 'Intro'. However, authorities are helpless due to lack of any written complaint.
Giving a new definition to ragging, the juniors of various hostels were asked to parade on the roads, during night hours, shouting abusive and slang sentences. In return, juniors were served with tea and refreshment. Even the varsity officials are well aware of the fact but cannot act since there is no written complaint. " Many inmates call me at late night hours complaining about the Intro being conducted in ABC number room but the callers do not reveal their identity or even report the matter at my office, said chief proctor of AU, prof Jata Shankar.
On being asked about the intro menace, he said, “Ragging was the bad shape of taking introduction of freshers but introduction is a healthy sign if it is being conducted in limits.” Taking a precautionary step, the chief proctor has written to wardens and superintendents of all the hostels that if any case of ragging is reported from their respective units, the individual warden and superintendent would be held responsible.
Introduction, over a period of time, has taken an ugly shape but if it does not aims at hurting or torturing the juniors, it is a healthy way to interact with new comers, said prof Deepa Punetha, warden SN Hostel. Knowing each other was essential for fulfilling the needs of the group, added Punetha, faculty member from the department of Psychology, AU. Ragging reflects the base nature of the guys who perpetrate it. “It is harmful for a healthy society, no matter mild or severe,” she added.
As long as the victims are afraid to complain, fearing revenge of their tormentors and isolation in the student community, nothing will change, says Kalpanath, student of B Tec-IV semester, AU. Most students believe that complaining against minor incidents of ragging will harm them more than doing any good, as freshers have to study on the same campus, said a girl inmate of SNH hostel.
Majority of students believe that healthy ragging is good on campus. "We don't need to obliterate the very idea of ragging from the campus. There is no harm in having some fun during an introduction session between the freshers and the seniors. In fact, this can help unearth some hidden talents of a student", said Tanuja.
It is a psychological problem. It should be addressed at that level. What we see in the name of ragging is no mere introduction. The behaviour of those involving in acts of ragging often calls for psychic treatment, said an inmate.
ALLAHABAD: Even as the Supreme Court has cracked its whip on everyone who are found to be indulged in ragging, the menace in a milder form has sustained its existence on the campus of Allahabad University in the name of 'Intro'. However, authorities are helpless due to lack of any written complaint.
Giving a new definition to ragging, the juniors of various hostels were asked to parade on the roads, during night hours, shouting abusive and slang sentences. In return, juniors were served with tea and refreshment. Even the varsity officials are well aware of the fact but cannot act since there is no written complaint. " Many inmates call me at late night hours complaining about the Intro being conducted in ABC number room but the callers do not reveal their identity or even report the matter at my office, said chief proctor of AU, prof Jata Shankar.
On being asked about the intro menace, he said, “Ragging was the bad shape of taking introduction of freshers but introduction is a healthy sign if it is being conducted in limits.” Taking a precautionary step, the chief proctor has written to wardens and superintendents of all the hostels that if any case of ragging is reported from their respective units, the individual warden and superintendent would be held responsible.
Introduction, over a period of time, has taken an ugly shape but if it does not aims at hurting or torturing the juniors, it is a healthy way to interact with new comers, said prof Deepa Punetha, warden SN Hostel. Knowing each other was essential for fulfilling the needs of the group, added Punetha, faculty member from the department of Psychology, AU. Ragging reflects the base nature of the guys who perpetrate it. “It is harmful for a healthy society, no matter mild or severe,” she added.
As long as the victims are afraid to complain, fearing revenge of their tormentors and isolation in the student community, nothing will change, says Kalpanath, student of B Tec-IV semester, AU. Most students believe that complaining against minor incidents of ragging will harm them more than doing any good, as freshers have to study on the same campus, said a girl inmate of SNH hostel.
Majority of students believe that healthy ragging is good on campus. "We don't need to obliterate the very idea of ragging from the campus. There is no harm in having some fun during an introduction session between the freshers and the seniors. In fact, this can help unearth some hidden talents of a student", said Tanuja.
It is a psychological problem. It should be addressed at that level. What we see in the name of ragging is no mere introduction. The behaviour of those involving in acts of ragging often calls for psychic treatment, said an inmate.
Student badly beaten during ragging
13 Feb 2009, 0312 hrs IST, TNN
AJMER: Senior students of Bhagwant University situated on Pushkar Road in Ajmer ragged a junior on the main road on Wednesday evening and beat him black andblue. Later they left him unconscious on the roadside. The seniors asked him to squat on the road and when he denied, they beat him with sticks and sharp weapons.
Meanwhile on Thursday the board committee of the university took statements of all the students involved in it and claimed to take strict action against the culprits. Prima-facie the committee found that the ragging was done by seniors because the junior was involved with one of their girlfriends. The police have arrested four accused and are searching other two. Police are investigating the ragging charges against them.
According to sources, first-year engineering student of B Tech (computer) at Bhagwant University, Anand Rai complained to Christianganj police station on Wednesday night that more than six senior students of his university -- Rahul Yadav, Sanjeev Yadav, Ritesh, Rajneesh, Deepak and Shiv Banu, Shiv Charan and Ramnath asked him to stop near Janana Hospital in the evening.
"They abused me and asked me to become a murga' on the road," said Anand in his complaint. Talking to TOI Anand said, "They threatened me to leave the university and not to be seen there again. They also threatened that all seniors would not allow me to enter the campus."
He accused that seniors beat him black and blue with hockey sticks and when he became unconscious they fled from the scene. "The local people found him lying unconscious on the road and they informed the ambulance. Anand was admitted to JLN hospital where he is currently under treatment," said police.
According to the police, "We found that the complainant, Anand is a first-year student of engineering and at present suspended from the university. He has to attend the classes from February 14. The accused, Ritesh is a second-year student and Rajneesh is a third-year student of the university. Sanjeev is an ex-student of AIT College affiliated to the university whereas Rahul Yadav was rusticated from the university three months ago."
The police registered a case under 151 of CRPC and investigated the ragging charges. Police have arrested Sanjeev Yadav, Ram Nath, Shiv Charan and one more and are searching for the other accused.
Meanwhile the management committee of the university on Thursday called an urgent meeting and took the statement of the students who were involved in it.
"The incident did not take place on the campus and the students who are involved in this are either suspended or rusticated," said the director of university, Basti Ram. He admitted that the incident is shocking and said that the victim, Anand was allegedly involved in fights, therefore, in only one semester he was suspended three times. On the other hand, the main accused, Rahul was rusticated three months ago because there were certain charges against him and action had been taken by the superintendent of police of Ajmer.
"There must be a personal reason for this fight, even though we are investigating the matter," said Basti Ram. He added, "We have decided to take strict action against them." The victim is from Haryana while all the accused belong to Uttar Pradesh.
Sources confirmed that this incident of ragging came during semester because the victim is involved with a girlfriend of one of the accused. According to the police, the students of engineering college who live in the hostel at Shastri Nagar are allegedly involved in the fights since last session. There are about 20 complaints against these students by the locals Shastri Nagar.
AJMER: Senior students of Bhagwant University situated on Pushkar Road in Ajmer ragged a junior on the main road on Wednesday evening and beat him black andblue. Later they left him unconscious on the roadside. The seniors asked him to squat on the road and when he denied, they beat him with sticks and sharp weapons.
Meanwhile on Thursday the board committee of the university took statements of all the students involved in it and claimed to take strict action against the culprits. Prima-facie the committee found that the ragging was done by seniors because the junior was involved with one of their girlfriends. The police have arrested four accused and are searching other two. Police are investigating the ragging charges against them.
According to sources, first-year engineering student of B Tech (computer) at Bhagwant University, Anand Rai complained to Christianganj police station on Wednesday night that more than six senior students of his university -- Rahul Yadav, Sanjeev Yadav, Ritesh, Rajneesh, Deepak and Shiv Banu, Shiv Charan and Ramnath asked him to stop near Janana Hospital in the evening.
"They abused me and asked me to become a murga' on the road," said Anand in his complaint. Talking to TOI Anand said, "They threatened me to leave the university and not to be seen there again. They also threatened that all seniors would not allow me to enter the campus."
He accused that seniors beat him black and blue with hockey sticks and when he became unconscious they fled from the scene. "The local people found him lying unconscious on the road and they informed the ambulance. Anand was admitted to JLN hospital where he is currently under treatment," said police.
According to the police, "We found that the complainant, Anand is a first-year student of engineering and at present suspended from the university. He has to attend the classes from February 14. The accused, Ritesh is a second-year student and Rajneesh is a third-year student of the university. Sanjeev is an ex-student of AIT College affiliated to the university whereas Rahul Yadav was rusticated from the university three months ago."
The police registered a case under 151 of CRPC and investigated the ragging charges. Police have arrested Sanjeev Yadav, Ram Nath, Shiv Charan and one more and are searching for the other accused.
Meanwhile the management committee of the university on Thursday called an urgent meeting and took the statement of the students who were involved in it.
"The incident did not take place on the campus and the students who are involved in this are either suspended or rusticated," said the director of university, Basti Ram. He admitted that the incident is shocking and said that the victim, Anand was allegedly involved in fights, therefore, in only one semester he was suspended three times. On the other hand, the main accused, Rahul was rusticated three months ago because there were certain charges against him and action had been taken by the superintendent of police of Ajmer.
"There must be a personal reason for this fight, even though we are investigating the matter," said Basti Ram. He added, "We have decided to take strict action against them." The victim is from Haryana while all the accused belong to Uttar Pradesh.
Sources confirmed that this incident of ragging came during semester because the victim is involved with a girlfriend of one of the accused. According to the police, the students of engineering college who live in the hostel at Shastri Nagar are allegedly involved in the fights since last session. There are about 20 complaints against these students by the locals Shastri Nagar.
Ragging takes ugly turn, schoolboy seriously hurt
13 Feb 2009, 2003 hrs IST, TNN
GONDAL: A class VIII student of JS Modi High School in Ramod village of Kotada Sangani taluka was seriously injured when two of his classmates forced a ball pen up his anus.
According to official sources in the school, the incident occurred on Monday, when the victim, Hardik Kumbhani (13), was ragged by his classmates Ajay Madhavacharya and Nikunj Gajera.
"Both Ajay and Nikunj forced Hardik to sit on the vertically placed ballpen on the bench. The pen pierced the victim's anus and also damaged his urinary tract," said a source.
A profusely bleeding Hardik was rushed to Jogi Hospital in Gondal, where he was treated for three days, the source added.
Meanwhile, school principal, DL Mendpara, said that as the victim's father refused to lodge a police complaint, no action would be taken against the students.
Hardik's father, Mukesh Kumbhani, in his statement before Kotada Sangani police station, said, "As the erring students are underage, I would not like to ruin their future."
District education officer DL Bagada, who came to know about the incident through a press report, put the blame on the principal. "It was his duty to inform us on time. Instead, he tried to sweep the matter under the carpet," he said.
GONDAL: A class VIII student of JS Modi High School in Ramod village of Kotada Sangani taluka was seriously injured when two of his classmates forced a ball pen up his anus.
According to official sources in the school, the incident occurred on Monday, when the victim, Hardik Kumbhani (13), was ragged by his classmates Ajay Madhavacharya and Nikunj Gajera.
"Both Ajay and Nikunj forced Hardik to sit on the vertically placed ballpen on the bench. The pen pierced the victim's anus and also damaged his urinary tract," said a source.
A profusely bleeding Hardik was rushed to Jogi Hospital in Gondal, where he was treated for three days, the source added.
Meanwhile, school principal, DL Mendpara, said that as the victim's father refused to lodge a police complaint, no action would be taken against the students.
Hardik's father, Mukesh Kumbhani, in his statement before Kotada Sangani police station, said, "As the erring students are underage, I would not like to ruin their future."
District education officer DL Bagada, who came to know about the incident through a press report, put the blame on the principal. "It was his duty to inform us on time. Instead, he tried to sweep the matter under the carpet," he said.
College seniors beat up junior for resisting ragging
13 Feb 2009, 0446 hrs IST, TNN
AJMER: Tension gripped Ajmer's Bhagwant University after seniors badly battered a junior and left him unconscious on the roadside for resisting
ragging on Wednesday.
for resisting
ragging on Wednesday. The seniors attacked B Tech (computer) student Anand Rai with sticks and sharp weapons.
The university's board committee has taken cognizance of the incident and assured strict action against the culprits. A police officer said, "We're investigating the matter and have arrested four students while two others remain on the run.''
AJMER: Tension gripped Ajmer's Bhagwant University after seniors badly battered a junior and left him unconscious on the roadside for resisting
ragging on Wednesday.
for resisting
ragging on Wednesday. The seniors attacked B Tech (computer) student Anand Rai with sticks and sharp weapons.
The university's board committee has taken cognizance of the incident and assured strict action against the culprits. A police officer said, "We're investigating the matter and have arrested four students while two others remain on the run.''
First in India, Rs 10k fine on ex-students for ragging
Abhijit Dasgupta Kolkata, January 15, 2009
In the first-ever incident of its kind in India, 25 students and ex-students of the Jadavpur University in West Bengal have been fined Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 depending on the scale of ragging of a fresher last July. Three students who were found guilty of forcing a girl student to smoke and drink alcohol in broad daylight on the campus will lose two academic years. Such stringent punishment has never been imposed in any university of India before.
The fresher, Parsati Dutta, of the architecture department complained to the vice-chancellor and a prima facie investigation proved many students to be associated with the incident. Next, a formal enquiry committee was set up. This committee submitted its report on Wednesday awarding the damning punishments.
Parthaprathim Biswas, member of the executive council of JU, said such punishment was unique and more so because the ragging incident happened in broad daylight and there were countless witnesses.
The girl complained, though usually victims do not for fear of reprisals. "But this time, we got the criminals...Ragging is a crime."
Biswas said that three students, two girls and one boy, would lose two academic years because they were directly involved while 20 others had been fined Rs 5,000 each and suspension for two semesters.
Five ex-students have been fined Rs 10,000 each and their employers notified.
"If they are found to be indulging in such cases ever again, we will not allow them inside on our campus. However, with these punishments, we think that ragging menace will stop."
According to Biswas, it was unique that such criminal ragging took place on the open campus. "Usually, we get reports of ragging from the hostel but this time, the fresher was humiliated in public and in the open."
All the degrees of the ex-students who had been found guilty were being held back and will not be awarded at the convocation ceremony slated soon.
In justification, the students came up with lame excuses which did not hold water. The enquiry report was once withheld after the students appealed. However, the enquiry committee sat again and probed the case and reiterated the punishment awards.
Only one concession was made; in the case of the three who had got suspension orders for four semesters, the term was reduced to three semesters now though this still means that they will lose two academic years.
In the first-ever incident of its kind in India, 25 students and ex-students of the Jadavpur University in West Bengal have been fined Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 depending on the scale of ragging of a fresher last July. Three students who were found guilty of forcing a girl student to smoke and drink alcohol in broad daylight on the campus will lose two academic years. Such stringent punishment has never been imposed in any university of India before.
The fresher, Parsati Dutta, of the architecture department complained to the vice-chancellor and a prima facie investigation proved many students to be associated with the incident. Next, a formal enquiry committee was set up. This committee submitted its report on Wednesday awarding the damning punishments.
Parthaprathim Biswas, member of the executive council of JU, said such punishment was unique and more so because the ragging incident happened in broad daylight and there were countless witnesses.
The girl complained, though usually victims do not for fear of reprisals. "But this time, we got the criminals...Ragging is a crime."
Biswas said that three students, two girls and one boy, would lose two academic years because they were directly involved while 20 others had been fined Rs 5,000 each and suspension for two semesters.
Five ex-students have been fined Rs 10,000 each and their employers notified.
"If they are found to be indulging in such cases ever again, we will not allow them inside on our campus. However, with these punishments, we think that ragging menace will stop."
According to Biswas, it was unique that such criminal ragging took place on the open campus. "Usually, we get reports of ragging from the hostel but this time, the fresher was humiliated in public and in the open."
All the degrees of the ex-students who had been found guilty were being held back and will not be awarded at the convocation ceremony slated soon.
In justification, the students came up with lame excuses which did not hold water. The enquiry report was once withheld after the students appealed. However, the enquiry committee sat again and probed the case and reiterated the punishment awards.
Only one concession was made; in the case of the three who had got suspension orders for four semesters, the term was reduced to three semesters now though this still means that they will lose two academic years.
Ten Orissa engineering students arrested for ragging
February 5th, 2009 - 5:55 pm ICT by IANS
Bhubaneswar, Feb 5 (IANS) Ten students of an engineering college in Orissa’s Puri district were arrested Thursday for assaulting their juniors, police said.The fourth year students of Ghanashyam Hemalata Institute of Technology and Management on the Puri-Konark marine drive, some 70 km from here, allegedly attacked a group of third year students Wednesday for not obeying their orders.
“We have arrested 10 fourth year engineering students for assaulting their juniors,” Prasanta Kumar, inspector in charge of Gop police station, told IANS on phone.
The junior students alleged that the seniors forcibly entered their hostel, locked them in a room and beat them up, leaving at least eight injured.
Bhubaneswar, Feb 5 (IANS) Ten students of an engineering college in Orissa’s Puri district were arrested Thursday for assaulting their juniors, police said.The fourth year students of Ghanashyam Hemalata Institute of Technology and Management on the Puri-Konark marine drive, some 70 km from here, allegedly attacked a group of third year students Wednesday for not obeying their orders.
“We have arrested 10 fourth year engineering students for assaulting their juniors,” Prasanta Kumar, inspector in charge of Gop police station, told IANS on phone.
The junior students alleged that the seniors forcibly entered their hostel, locked them in a room and beat them up, leaving at least eight injured.
Ragging: PU expels students for a year
Express News Service
Posted: Jan 28, 2009 at 0516 hrs IST
Chandigarh Authorities at the Panjab University have decided to expel seven students of the Theatre department for a year, for their alleged involvement in a ragging incident on the campus. While taking the final decision, which was pending for a few months now, the officials said their case would be again taken up at the time of fresh admissions.
Dean of Students Welfare, Prof Naval Kishore, confirmed the decision and added that the students have been asked to discontinue their classes. Though attempts made to convert expulsion to suspension but nothing worked out and the students were finally expelled, he said.
The decision took so long as the students who had filed the complaint went back on their statements. After this, a committee was formed to look into the matter, which had sought a legal opinion in the same. It was then decided to expel the students. Meanwhile, the students involved in the incidents had been carrying on with their regular classes as the matter remained pending.
The incident had taken place at hostel number 2 in August last year. Around seven IInd year students with a few outsiders had barged into the room of Ist year students and had allegedly ragged them. The fresher students were first asked to hurl abuses at each other and were later asked to perform obscene acts.
Posted: Jan 28, 2009 at 0516 hrs IST
Chandigarh Authorities at the Panjab University have decided to expel seven students of the Theatre department for a year, for their alleged involvement in a ragging incident on the campus. While taking the final decision, which was pending for a few months now, the officials said their case would be again taken up at the time of fresh admissions.
Dean of Students Welfare, Prof Naval Kishore, confirmed the decision and added that the students have been asked to discontinue their classes. Though attempts made to convert expulsion to suspension but nothing worked out and the students were finally expelled, he said.
The decision took so long as the students who had filed the complaint went back on their statements. After this, a committee was formed to look into the matter, which had sought a legal opinion in the same. It was then decided to expel the students. Meanwhile, the students involved in the incidents had been carrying on with their regular classes as the matter remained pending.
The incident had taken place at hostel number 2 in August last year. Around seven IInd year students with a few outsiders had barged into the room of Ist year students and had allegedly ragged them. The fresher students were first asked to hurl abuses at each other and were later asked to perform obscene acts.
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