Ragging uncontrolled: National Report Card 164 reported cases, 19 deaths and 4 attempted suicides

Press Release

Ragging uncontrolled: National Report Card

164 reported cases, 19 deaths and 4 attempted suicides

Sub: Annual Status Report on Ragging in India

Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (CURE, Estd in 2001) has once again come out with its statistics to highlight the ragging scenario in higher educational institutions in India. According to CURE’s latest analysis of ragging in India, the academic session 2009-10 registered highest number of ragging deaths in recent times. In the last 12 months, 19 cases of deaths and 4 cases of attempted suicides allegedly due to ragging were reported in English media. The year also witnessed a marked increase in the number of ragging incidents involving girls, including 4 cases of deaths and 2 cases of attempted suicides by girl students.

Year	Reported Ragging Incidents	Ragging Deaths	Attempted suicides
2007-08	89	11	5
2008-09	88	12	5
2009-10	164	19	4

In the academic session 2009-10 (July, 2009 – June, 2010) a total of 164 cases of ragging were reported in English media from across the country. This shows that ragging cases reported have doubled this academic year. Whereas this increase could be due to wider coverage of ragging incidents by the media, the substantial increase in number of deaths is concerning. The figure for number of deaths is less influenced by reporting asymmetry.

The highest incidents were reported from Uttar Pradesh (26), Andhra Pradesh (18), Tamil Nadu (14), Kerela (13) and West Bengal (11). In comparison to last year, Tamil Nadu is a new entrant to this list, whereas Punjab has exited the list. It is important to also study, which states registered the maximum number of ragging deaths. Maharashtra (4), West Bengal (4) and Punjab (3) registered maximum deaths due to ragging. It is alarming to observe that 4 states comprise to 57% of the total ragging deaths across the country.

There were 56 cases of ragging that led to major and minor injuries to students including several incidents leading to hospitalization and even permanent disability to young students. 22% of the total cases involved sexual abuse of freshers. 24 cases of ragging led to serious group clashes, protests and strikes and violence between students. Element of drug abuse, alcoholism, extortion, caste difference or regionalism was noted in 19 ragging cases.

Cases leading to injury	56
Cases comprising of sexual abuse	36
Cases leading to group violence	24
Cases involving drug abuse, casteism/regionalism	19

However the most shocking case this year was that of Nayan Adak, a 19 year-old first year student of Calcutta Institute of Pharmaceutical and Allied Health Sciences in Uluberia. During ragging Nayan was asked by his seniors to dance, strip and smoke. When he refused, the seniors slashed his hands with a blade and injected something into his body. Later Nayan tried to commit suicide at home by drinking pesticide but was timely hospitalized and rescued. But Nayan was so traumatized by the ragging incident that after a month when his father wanted him to rejoin classes, Nayan hanged himself from the ceiling fan and died on October, 8^th, 2009. This shows a gross societal failure, wherein after intervention of family and social security institutions, the victim could not be saved from death.

Like the previous years, this year also, high percentage of cases were reported from Engineering and Medical Colleges with a total of 68 cases (42% the total cases). Hostels and paying guest accommodation for students still remain to be the breeding ground for ragging as 91 cases or 56% of the total cases were reported from these places located in and around the campus area.

On the positive side, in 2009-10 academic session was the increase in police involvement and registration of FIR in ragging cases. Police intervention was noted in 66% of the total ragging incidents reported during the last 12 months as against 59% in academic session 2008-09.

“With so much fear, mystery and secrecy associated with ragging the only way to analyse the situation of ragging in the country is to track media reports and explore the trends and nature of this evil. Number of unreported incidents of ragging are much higher, nevertheless media reports are an important indicator on how widespread the phenomenon of ragging is still existent in our country.” says Harsh Agarwal, Co-founder, CURE.

“Our analysis states the obvious: Ragging is still widespread and its social impact is non-trivial. We are not happy with the steps the government or the educational institutions have taken. There is a lot of talk, but little work. A simple question to ask is how many educational institutions were fined or deaffiliated for breeding ragging, The unfortunate answer is 0.” says Varun Aggarwal, Co-founder, CURE.

About CURE

Established in 2001, Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (www.noragging.com) is India’s foremost anti-ragging non-profit organization. CURE is a research organization dedicated solely towards the elimination of ragging and promotion of more positive ways of interaction among seniors and freshers in Indian universities. For more details, please contact:

Email: cure@noragging.com,

Engg college principal held for ragging

TNN, Jul 8, 2010, 12.39am IST

ANANTAPUR: The principal of an engineering college and three students were arrested in connection with a ragging case here on Wednesday.

While principal G Satish was arrested for failing to stop ragging activity inside his Intel Engineering College premises, the three B Tech students were taken into custody for ragging juniors.

C V Lokesh, a first year civil engineering diploma student, lodged a complaint with the principal about ragging by second year B Tech students -- K Sandeep, Srikanth and Y Shyam -- 20 days ago. But the principal did not respond. The same batch of students again resorted to ragging a few juniors including one Lokesh on July 3.

Though the juniors approached the principal, it was to no avail. It was then they brought the matter to the notice of the police. Rural inspector S Mahabub Basha told TOI that several complaints of ragging have come to their notice but the principal did not initiate any disciplinary action against the accused students.

"Cops in plainclothes were witness to ragging in the college in the last two weeks. B Tech students were seen ragging diploma students inside the college compound," he said.

Based on a complaint from Lokesh, the rural police registered cases against Satish and the three accused students. Srikanth and Sandeep were arrested on July 4 while the principal and Shyam were picked up on Wednesday.

Four students attempt suicide

Warangal, July 2: Four Kerala-based final year nursing students studying at Rohini School of Nursing here attempted suicide by consuming sleeping pills after they were reportedly reprimanded by their nursing school principal for indulging in ragging of junior students.
All the four, admitted to Rohini hospital’s intensive care unit following their suicide attempt on Thursday night, are out of danger now.

The students have been identified as Betsy Antony, 21, Jinchu Michael, 21, KR Reshmi, 21 and Jigimol Chako, 20. According to sources, the Rohini School of Nursing, near Subedari, which runs a four-year nursing course, has mostly students belonging to Kerala and Manipur.
The present final year batch here has 58 students, including 12 from Manipur, while the rest are from Kerala.

While ragging of junior students, who also hail from these two states, seem to be common here, sources said that the four girls felt disgraced when the nursing school principal Sister Nirmala selectively targeted them.

“There were other senior students, who too indulged in ragging of juniors, but only we four were targeted by the principal,” said Betsy Antony, one of the four girls, now recuperating in Rohini Hospital.

Speaking to this newspaper, she said, “The principal of the nursing school used abusive words against us four weeks ago when we scolded a first year student for not working.”

The students also alleged that they were ‘targeted’ by the principal on many other occasions.
However, Dalit Sena leader D. Suresh, who exposed the suicide drama, pointed fingers at the hospital-cum-nursing school administration.

“If the nursing school management did no wrong, then it should have informed police as soon as the girls attempted suicide last night,” he argued. Subedari police station SI Satish Vasala, who reached the spot immediately, said that they were still verifying the facts. “We are looking at all angles. The students complained of harassment by their principal,” he said, adding that they would register cases under appropriate section of IPC.