Monday, January 31, 2011

Student assaulted by seniors, hospitalised

Mahoba (Uttar Pradesh), Jan 29 (IANS) A student of a government polytechnic institute here was Saturday hospitalised after being assaulted by his seniors, police said, adding that it was yet to be confirmed whether the incident was of ragging.

Raghvendra Kumar, enrolled in second year electronics course in the Rajkiya Polytechnic, was thrashed by a group of his seniors outside the campus.

'According to eyewitnesses, Raghvendra was assaulted by around six students,' police inspector Virendra Kumar Rai told reporters in the town, some 250 km from Lucknow.

'Raghvendra is being treated at a hospital and he is out of danger. On the compliant made by the victim's father Devideen, we have started an enquiry into the matter. We have also sought assistance from the polytechnic staff,' he added.

VNIT final yr students held for ragging

NAGPUR: In what's ostensibly the biggest blot on the Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), the only NIT in Maharashtra, 6 students of the city-based college were arrested by the Ambazari police on Thursday for alleged ragging. They were also charged with physical assault and threatening the victims, under Sections 323, 504, and 109 read with 34 of IPC.

Those arrested include Abhishek Mishra (21) from Kolkata, Pranav Dikshit from Agra, Gauravdip Chakraborty (20) from Ashish Nagar, Tanay Mahajan (22) from Pune, Pravin Jha (20) from Rajasthan and Ankit Chabra (20) from Punjab. The first three are from final year mechanical branch, Tanay from final year architecture and Pravin and Ankit from final year civil engineering.

Interestingly, the incident took place on January 5 but the complaint was lodged only on Thursday. All were released on bail on the same day.

The chief warden of VNIT hostels, Aniruddh Ghare, told TOI that all the students were rusticated from the hostels after the complaint was lodged and also debarred from appearing in any of the training and placement activities. Their parents were also informed about the incident.

According to Ghare, after Jayant Kumar Tiwari, a third-year student, lodged a complaint on January 6 with the students' dean SS Umare, the issue was referred to the officiating director Chintamanu Moghe. He constituted a special enquiry panel under mathematics lecturer AG Deshpande who, in his report, recommended filing of police complaint. After the submission of the report, the victim was told to lodge an FIR.

Moghe could not be contacted for his comments while the complainant refused to pick up calls.

Ghare refused to call it an act of ragging and instead termed it as a group clash between third year and final year student. According TOI's sources, the panel report confirmed that it was a clear case of ragging where the victims were abused and threatened.

On the date of incident the accused inquired with Moghe, who was sitting with his friends outside the hostel, about one of their classmate. When he pleaded ignorance, Moghe and his friends were taken to the hostel terrace and badly humiliated by the accused. They allegedly abused the victim and his friends in vulgar words and made them to perform indecent acts. The drama went on for nearly two hours, sources added.

As per section 4 of the Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1999, the accused should have been sent to jail for a term, which may extend to two years, and slapped with a fine, which may extend to Rs 10,000. Surprisingly, they were released on bail raising serious doubts on the action taken on them by the police. Though the VNIT officials displayed courage to provide information to the police, they failed to take stern action on the culprits by not dismissing or suspending them from attending the college.

Patna medico kills self, family alleges ragging

A first year student of Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) committed suicide after being allegedly harassed by his seniors. The body of 18-year-old Sunny Kumar Roshan was recovered from a private lodge under Sultanganj police station of the state capital on Wednesday. The body was taken to his Chapra residence by his family after the post- mortem. The police said they did not find any suicide note from his room.


Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday ordered a joint probe by Patna's district magistrate Jitendra Kumar Sinha and senior superintendent of police B. S. Meena after the boy's family alleged that Sunny had taken the extreme step due to constant harassment by his seniors on the college campus.

"I have asked the Patna DM and SSP to probe the suicide by the medical student in view of his family's suspicion about ragging," Nitish said.

Sunny, a resident of Saran district, was living at the Mehendra Prasad lodge in the Mahendru area where his body was found hanging from the ceiling fan.

His father Kameshwar Ram, a bank employee, said he often complained about harassment by his seniors at the college.

"He told me that the seniors often ragged him on the college campus. They used to chase him to his classes and would leave only upon the arrival of the teachers," the victim's father said.

Family members said Sunny was also tense because his seniors had demanded ` 1,200 from him in the name of donation for the upcoming Saraswati Puja.

Anil Kumar, one of Sunny's friends, said he was very upset after he returned from the college where he had gone to give donation for the Saraswati Puja on Tuesday.

"He just collapsed on the bed and was crying. I kept asking why he was upset but he did not tell me," he said.

The SHO of Sultanganj police station Nand Kishore Rajak said the boy had locked his door and apparently committed suicide on Tuesday night itself but the matter came to light on Wednesday around 7 pm when the door of the lodge was broken open.

The Patna SSP, who also visited the lodge where Sunny had been living, said he found no evidence to suggest that ragging prompted Sunny to end his life.

" His father has not mentioned ragging in his statement to the police," he said.

Meena said the police had recovered a diary from Sunny's room which contained telephone numbers of some of his friends. " We have talked to each one of them but none of them told us anything about ragging," he added.

The PMCH administration denied the charges of ragging and extortion of money from students in the name of donation for the Saraswati Puja.

College sources added that Sunny had attended barely onethird of his theory and practical classes. The police said Sunny had appeared in a semester examination from January 15 to 24 and had apparently not done well.

In a separate incident on Thursday, Ashwani Pratap, an MBA student, was found hanging from a ceiling fan at his house in Patna.

The deceased was a student of a Pune college and was under treatment for depression.

DESAM demands action against accused JNV students

Imphal, January 10 2011: Demanding appropriate action against the accused students of the ragging incident occurred in Jawaharlal Navodaya Vidyalaya Khumbong, the Democratic Students' Alliance Manipur (DESAM) appealed to the civil organizations not to support the accused students.

In a press release, DESAM alleged the DC Imphal West, K Radhakumar who is the chairman of the vidyalaya with charge of supporting the accused students by allowing entry to eight students out of the 11 accused students instead expelling them.

Demanding action against them, DESAM demanded DC Imphal West to withdraw its decision.

They also asked the ground of forgiving only eight students including the prime accuse leaving the other three.

Junior's head shaved off after he says no to ragging Read more: Junior's head shaved off after he says no to ragging

GREATER NOIDA: A first-year engineering student of National Institute of Engineering and Technology (NIET) in Greater Noida was allegedly beaten, abused and his head shaved off at gunpoint, for refusing to be ragged, by three persons on Friday. The Greater Noida police has launched a search for the accused.

Police circle officer, Rahul Kumar, said,''We have received such a complaint from one Arjun Singh who is a first-year engineering student of NIET. But, we have not been able to find the three persons who are accused and, as a result, we have not yet registered a case. It is important that we get the version of the other side too. Once the victim's complaint is found substantiated, we have orders to take the strictest action.''

According to the victim, Arjun, he had a tiff with one Sumit Arora, a second-year engineering student, on November 19 when Sumit allegedly tried to rag Arjun in the canteen. On December 3, Sumit called one Amit Chowdhary from Accurate College and the two beat up Arjun at the gate of his college. The victim alleged that the duo also snatched his mobile phone and severely damaged his motorcycle.

''Two days later, I complained to the NIET managers, and they called all three of us and made us shake hands to make up. On Friday evening, at around 4pm, Sumit told me he wanted to return my phone, which was with a shopkeeper, Sanjay Bhati. They called me to the shop, beat me up and shaved my head at gunpoint. It is then that I finally decided to approach the cops,'' Arjun Singh said.

The NIET was closed on Saturday and the administrative staff could not be contacted for comments.

23 students injured in ragging

Shimoga, Jan 6, dhns:

A clear indicator that proves that right examples may go unnoticed, but wrong ones create an impression and are emulated.

In a shocking incident, 23 class six students of Morarji Desai Backward Residential School in Tirthahalli sustained serious injuries after they were ragged and assaulted by their seniors on Wednesday.

The students were blindfolded and assaulted with sticks and belt, and had to undergo treatment at the J C Hospital. The seniors, class 10 students, had been ragging their juniors since the beginning of the academic year, but the victims, most of whom from weaker sections from neighbouring taluks, remained tight-lipped fearing retribution from their seniors.

On Thursday, parents of the victims staged a protest at the school premises demanding stern action. Following the incident, Zilla Panchayat CEO Hemachandra suspended hostel warden Pavithra Nandaraju and cook Kantharaju. Backward Classes
Officer Eranna also held a meeting with the staff members and parents.

Junior students forced to booze, take drugs

Jan. 6: The police is investigating an alleged case of ragging in the Nehru College of Aeronautics and Applied Science where senior students assaulted two juniors and forced them to drink liquor and consume drugs. The victims of the ragging, Aswath Ashok, 18, and Bilal Mohammed, 18, both from Thiruvananthapuram, lodged a complaint with police commissioner C. Sylendra Babu on Wednesday.

The college, however, denied that any ragging had taken place but said two senior students, Neeraj Boudran and Jerin Raju, had been dismissed for ‘throwing a party’. Senior students of the college also forced the juniors to catch mosquitoes all through the night in their rooms as part of ragging, the police has learnt.

“The senior students took them away and assaulted and tortured them,” said a police officer. “They were forced to take liquor and drugs and catch mosquitoes.” The group of senior students, who called themselves the ‘Kovaiputhiran gang’, had also asked Ashok and Bilal to recharge their cellphones and buy cigarettes for them.

“After harassing them, the seniors warned them not to lodge any complaint,” the police officer said. Summoning up courage, Aswath and Bilal lodged a complaint with commissioner Babu on Wednesday. The police registered a case under section 323, 341 and 506(ii) and 4 of Tamil Nadu Prohibition Ragging Act 1997.

“Both the complainants and the accused have gone to their native place Kerala and will be questioned soon,” said a police officer.

Monday, January 03, 2011

Ragging alleged at RC Technical Institute

There have been unconfirmed reports of ragging inside the RC Technical Institute on the SG Highway. According to reports, a boy was stripped and forced to dress up like a girl by some seniors.

They allegedly took him around the campus and humiliated him. The principal and rector of the institute today denied that the act took place.

They said that no such incident happened as exams have been going on and no one has the time to indulge in such things. Even the police haven't confirmed the reports as no FIR has been lodged in the matter.

College authorities ignore ragging complaints

Last Updated : 25 Dec 2010 08:39:50 AM IST

KOCHI: The Model Engineering College, Thrikkakara, has landed in a ragging controversy after an NRI, the father of a firstyear student, appealed to the college authorities to protect his ward who has been subjected to alleged torture in the college hostel by senior students.
In a letter sent to college Principal P Suresh Kumar, the father who refused to reveal his identity fearing for his son's safety, said: "Four months have gone since my ward joined your institution. He was fortunate enough to get an admission in the college hostel.

With agony, surprise and a little bit of anger, let me list before you the mental and physical torture inflicted on my son by a small group of seniors. The seniors started to visit the juniors in their hostel rooms at unearthly hours in not so sober condition. They created situations for slapping the juniors and for stripping them in public. The juniors were ordered to clean the room and the undergarments of the seniors," the letter said.

The letter further further said: "It is learnt that none of the ragging preventive measures is effective neither on your campus or in the hostel.

The complaint box with the name and the telephone numbers of the principal and other respective officials are yet to be arranged. No team of officials or authorities used to take rounds on the hostel premises to check the entry of seniors in the rooms of the juniors. The tollfree antiragging number and notices warning about the consequences of criminal proceedings in case of ragging are not displayed in the college or on hostel premises."

When inquired about the letter, principal Suresh Kumar said that they had received an anonymous letter but the issues raised in the letter were baseless. "We conducted an inquiry and found that no such incidents as mentioned in the letter has happened in the hostel. We have an active antiragging cell in the college which used to ensure that senior students do not get a chance to enter the hostel rooms of the juniors. There have been repeated attempts by a section of the people to tarnish the name of the institution by levelling baseless allegations," the principal added.

North Bengal University impasse: VC seeks Guv''s intervention

Siliguri, Dec 24 (PTI) North Bengal University Vice- Chancellor today sought Governor M K Narayanan''s intervention in ending an impasse since last two weeks over the executive council''s refusal to take action against some students for ragging.

Vice-Chancellor Arunabha Basu Majumder has written to the governor, who is also the Chancellor of the varsity, seeking his intervention in the issue, officials said.
On November 17, the university''s anti-ragging committee in a surprise visit to three boys'' hostels caught 17 students while they were ragging some newcomers, who had been stripped off their clothes and beaten up.

Following the incident, the committee recommended suspension of six students for two years, one year suspension for five and suspension for one semester to three others.
The accused students were members of Students Federation of India, CPI(M)''s student wing, an official of the anti- ragging committee had said.

The recommendations of the committee were, however, rejected at the executive council meeting.The proposal was rejected by 6-5 votes with one member in the 12-member council preferring not to vote.

The six members were against the suspension as well as constitution of anti-ragging committee, which according to them was not constituted as per UGC directive.
The vice-chancellor, however, said the executive council was informed about the formation of the anti-ragging cell.

Describing the stalemate as "unfortunate", the VC said abiding by the university norms he had taken up the matter with the Chancellor.

Meanwhile, three members of the anti-ragging committee -- Jyotish Basak, Debiprasad Boot and Nikhilesh Roy -- have resigned, while three others, including the chairman, have threatened to quit if their recommendations were not implemented.

Ragging sparks campus violence, one critical

Last Updated 05:58(18/12/10)

Indore: An engineering college in the city witnessed violent clashes on Thursday night. One of the students of the college got critically hurt while others suffered minor injuries.

Sharp weapons were used in the campus violence that erupted allegedly after some junior students were ragged by the seniors.

An autorickshaw driver took three injured students – Swadesh Singh, Deepak and Dharmendra – of the Astrol Engineering College to MY Hospital at around midnight.

While Deepak and Dharmendra had minor injuries, Swadesh was attacked with a knife on chest, hand, legs, and back.

Swadesh said that his senior Sawan Patil, along with his friends Akash, Pawan and Sumit, entered their room while they were studying, took them outside and attacked them using sharp weapons.

According to Swadesh, the cause of the incident was ragging. He alleged that Sawan often used to trouble them and attacked them after they protested against his acts.

However, the police said that the violence erupted over an admit card. Both the groups had clashed over the issue on December 14 as well. They said that Sawan had gone to strike a compromise when the groups clashed again and violence erupted.

The police filed a cross complaint and took Sawan, Akash and Sumit in custody.

Another case of ragging in the capital

Bhopal: Yet another case of ragging has come up in the capital. This time it is the Government Homeopathic College where senior students beat up the juniors in hostel. Juniors have accused that seniors always forced to wish them in a proper manner, when they did not do it seniors beat them.

The victims lodged a complaint at the local police station. Kamal Singh Rajput, a victim of the case informed that around twenty seniors entered the hostel in the evening and started beating the students.

He said that seniors have beaten him earlier as well. They had been forcing since a long time that he wishes them but he was not ready to do that.

Police has already started investigating the case.

7 CMC medicos suspended for ragging junior

Last Updated : 21 Dec 2010 09:58:33 AM IST

KOCHI: Acting tough on ragging, the authorities of Cooperative Medical College (CMC) here on Monday suspended seven students who were allegedly involved in the crime.
The college authorities said that, on Saturday, the senior students physically, sexually and mentally assaulted Joel Antony, a second-year MBBS student under the pretext of ragging.

Anantharaman, Anoop, Thomas, Roshith, Shinas and Anees and Jias are the students who have been suspended, the college authorities said. After the victim lodged a complaint in this regard with the college authorities on Sunday, an inquiry was conducted into the incident.

"It was after the seven students were found guilty by the hostel warden, who conducted an inquiry into the incident, that we decided to suspend them for one month and expel them from the hostel.

As serious charges, including physical, sexual and mental assault, are being levelled against the senior students, we have handed over the complaint to the police," Dr Gireesh, Principal, CMC, said.

Following a row over some issue at the college canteen on Saturday, thirdyear MBBS student Jias pushed Joel into the former's room around 7 p.m. and locked the door from inside, the complaint says.

Then, Jias, along with six of his batchmates, switched off the lights in the room and started assaulting the victim. Joel complained that the students brutally attacked him for almost an hour.

According to the complaint, the senior students showered abuses on Joel maligning his parents. The sexual assault was severe, he said in his compliant.
The college authorities have forwarded the complaint to the Cooperation Minister, the authorities of the Cooperative Academy for Professional Education (CAPE), and the police.

Though, many of the students were involved in such crimes earlier, the authorities had not taken strict action against them.Some of the persons involved in the present case had been under suspension for similar cases earlier, sources said.

The senior students under the pretext of ragging would attack the juniors. Earlier, the first-year students were also attacked in a similar manner by the seniors.
The police have registered a case in this regard.