Monday, October 17, 2011

One student expelled, 4 suspended over ragging incident in NIFT, Kangra

DHARAMSALA: Junior students of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) at Chheb in Kangra were reportedly ragged inside the campus last Friday by senior students. Four final year students, involved in the incident, have been suspended, while one was expelled, after the matter was reported to the authorities.

Confirming the suspension of five students, officiating registrar, NIFT, Pankaj Rastogi said that five students were found guilty of ragging, who were suspended temporarily from the institution. "We have also referred the matter to our New Delhi head office and have recommended stern action against the students involved," Rastogi said.

A disciplinary committee was constituted to enquire into the incident of ragging after junior students lodged a complaint with anti-ragging committee of the institution against five senior students, charging them with ragging the juniors on October 6 and 7 in the hostel, he said.

Maintaining that the management has taken the matter seriously, Rastogi said the accused students have been barred from entering the classes while one student has been expelled from hostel immediately after the committee submitted its report.

"The management is very serious about the ragging incident and has taken action against the culprits as per NIFT guidelines. The accused behaved rudely with junior students, though nothing harsh happened. The institute is committed to stop such incidents, hence the action against accused," he added.

NIFT at Kangra, second in north India after NIFT, New Delhi, was opened in August 2009. The ragging incident is the first such case in its two years of functioning.

However, this is the second incident of ragging in educational institutions of Kangra district within a week. Recently five students of a private university at Palampur were arrested for ragging their juniors.

Police firing fuels protests in Kerala

TRIVANDRUM — The police firing on left student activists protesting at alleged illegal admission to a student in the Government Engineering College at Calicut on Monday fuelled protests in the Kerala Assembly and across the state on Tuesday.
While the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led opposition Left Democratic Front stalled the proceedings in the Assembly, activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI) went on a rampage in several places, attacking the police and damaging public properties.

Opposition members trooped into the well of the house shouting slogans against the police and the state government after Speaker G Karthikeyan denied leave for an adjournment motion on the police action against the students. The house was later adjourned for the day.

The opposition continued their protests in the house even after the adjournment. They called off the sit-in after about an hour following the intervention of the speaker.

The adjournment motion was moved by Pradeep Kumar of the CPI (M) demanding a judicial probe into the incident in which Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Radhakrishna Pillai opened fire on protesting SFI activists at Calicut. They also demanded the immediate removal of the police officer. Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan said that the situation at Calicut did not warrant police firing. The police resorted to firing due to the United Democratic Front (UDF) government’s policy to suppress the students’ agitations.

Expressing regret over the police action, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy indicated action against the police officer concerned. However, he questioned the opposition stir against the admission of the student, saying that the student had discontinued his study following ragging by the SFI activists. The SFI attitude that the student will not be allowed to resume his study anywhere in the state was not acceptable to the government. He said several such students were given admission during the LDF rule. Owning responsibility for the admission, the chief minister said that the government would lend all help to Nirmal Madhav if he wanted to continue his study in Kerala.

Meanwhile, the state-wide protests called by the SFI to protest against the police action turned violent in several places. At Kannur, the activists threw stones at the police and stoned the camp office of the inspector-general of police and the residence of the district superintendent of police.

The SFI activists stoned the collectorate at Palghat and pelted policemen with stones in Trichur district. Several media persons were also injured in the clash between the police and the students.

Ragging Case Reported at Polytechnic Institute

Patna: Police in Patna on Thursday filed an FIR against five Government Polytechnic Institute students at Pataliputra Colony after a student complained of being harassed by some his seniors.
City Superintendent of Police (SP) Shivdeep Lande, after being informed about the ragging case by none other than the Speaker of Bihar Assembly Uday Narayan Chowdhary, rushed to the college and quizzed the ragging victim and college staff.
The student who was identified as Amresh Kumar, with tears rolling down his eyes, told the police that he was being ragged by five students of the sixth semester.
A search of the campus produced no result but the police continue to look for Amresh's tormentors.
It is not known how the Speaker of the House come to know about the alleged ragging case.
"We have zero tolerance for ragging at our institute and once identified, these students will be expelled," a college spokesperson said.

5 students arrested for ragging at Palampur

Dharamshala: Five students of Sri Sai University were booked under the HP Educational Institutional Prohibition Ragging Act 2009 on the complaint of Arun Katoch a BBA student of the University and resident of Bhuhana yesterday, police said here today.
D.S.Thakur, SSP kangra told HimVani that Arun Katoch resident of Kosab (Bhuhana) a BBA student of the Sai University at Palampur had lodged a report with Police that he was allegedly ragged by five students of B.Tech of the same university.
SSP Kangra said that Rocky, resident of Mumta, Gourav resident of Ghuggar, Abhishek resident of Bindravan, Anchal Thakur resident of Bhatti (Bhawarana) and Shanti Bhushan were arrested under section 147, 149, 323, 506 and Section 3 of HP Educational Institutional Prohibition Ragging Act 2009 and were produced before the court of JMIC Palampur today and were remanded to police custody for two days.
They are to be produced before the court on October 13, 2011.

Engineering students roughed up in TN hostel

PALAKKAD: It is a tale of woe for 400-odd students from Kerala who are studying in a private engineering college near Salem. On Friday, the students were beaten up by outsiders in the college hostel, injuring 30 of them.
There was a great deal of linguistic discrimination by the management of the college. There were discrepancies in fees, and communications from� homes were not passed on to the students.
“On Friday evening we had protested against the warden of the hostel. Instead of amicably resolving the issue, some toughies were brought in. They hit us with computer cables, sticks and chains“, says Ranjith (name changed), a first-year student of the college.
After the incident, around 250 first-year students went to the Palakkad District Hospital on Saturday night. But as no complaint was registered, the hospital authorities were unwilling to admit them. The students fear dismissal from the college if they register complaints.
“The minimum fine slapped on the students for a misdemeanor has been `25,000. Most of the times, therefore, the students keep mum to the injustices meted out to them”, said Afzal (name changed),another student. The parents of the injured students took home the students from the hospital. Except for 150-odd final-semester students, all the students from Kerala have left the hostel.
Palakkad South Police, who recorded the statements, said that the students were unwilling to disclose the names of their assailants.
“Nobody is willing to disclose their names. Therefore no cases has been registered. They fear reprisal by the management”, said senior police officer K Suresh Kumar.
Later, the hostel was closed down and the first-year students were taken in the college bus and dropped at Erode railway station and the second-year students at the Salem railway station.
The practical examinations are to be held on Monday. But the students fear that the management may prevent them from taking it. The management continues to term the incidents at the college as a case of ragging by the students. Instead of taking action against the guilty, it had suspended 80 students from Kerala.
In the afternoon, the students submitted a memorandum to Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan at the PWD resthouse were he had promised to raise the issue in the Assembly and put pressure on the UDF Government to take up the issue with its counterpart in Tamil Nadu.

Five students booked for ragging in Rajasthan

Jaipur: Criminal cases were slapped against five students of a university in Udaipur on Friday after a first-year Bachelor of Science (BSc) student went into depression after he was ragged, police said.

Mohanlal Sukhadia University's student Sanjay Chauhan alleged he was made to stand in unusual postures and thrashed severely by his seniors when he protested. He claimed that he was "harassed physically and mentally".

The varsity authorities have also issued notices to the accused students and referred the matter to the university's disciplinary committee.

Police said the incident took place at the university's Science College in Udaipur Thursday, 400 km from here.

Chauhan alleged in his police complaint that Harish Kapaliya, Hemant Raigar, Ankit Paliwal, Arvind and Saurabh Choudhary thrashed him severely when he tried to protest the ragging.

A police officer told IANS: "We have lodged a first information report for wrongful restraint and voluntarily causing hurt."

The incident comes close on the heels of a ragging incident in Jodhpur's Jai Narain Vyas University where 16 students were booked for ragging an engineering student Monday.

Keeping in view the increasing number of ragging incidents in Rajasthan, some universities have made it mandatory for all the students to sign an affidavit during admissions stating that they would not indulge in any ragging-related activities.

Acting on Supreme Court directives, some higher education institutions have equipped themselves with CCTV cameras and asked the student counsellors to check ragging activities. However, many colleges have failed to comply with the norms.

Students stage protest over ragging issue

VARANASI: A suspected incidence of ragging at the Birla 'A' Hostel under the faculty of arts, Banaras Hindu University, brought the varsity officials on their toes. Students of BA first year of the department of Ancient Indian History and Culture also staged a protest near the faculty building on Thursday.

The incidence came to light when Laxman Tiwari, one of the orthopaedically handicapped students (BA first year) of the department living at Birla A Hostel, allegedly received a threat from his room mate and senior, another OH category student (BA third year). The matter was reported to hostel warden. The varsity officials also swung into action to pacify the students. The proctorial board members were also called to ensure law and order.

However, talking to TOI, chairman of anti-ragging squad, BHU, KK Singh said preliminary reports of the incident did not suggest ragging as written complaints made by Laxman Tiwari indicated his desire to change the room, citing problems in adjustments with his senior. The statement of the student would be taken on Friday and proper investigation would be made in the matter, he added.

‘Ragging’ at JU

A first-year BPharm student at Jadavpur University has accused his seniors of ragging him at the university’s main hostel off Prince Anwar Shah Road, the dean of student affairs said on Wednesday.

According to the complaint, he was assaulted on the roof of the hostel for an hour.

“Ritesh Kumar came to my office but I was not there. My office staff sent him to the director of youth and welfare, Bappaditya Mallick,” dean Rajat Ray said in the evening.

“I have heard that he had lodged a verbal complaint with Mallick. The university authorities are trying to find out what had happened at the hostel,” added Ray.

Ritesh is from Ara in Bhojpur district of Bihar.

Director of youth and welfare Mallick was not available for comment.

Kumar is likely to lodge a written complaint on Thursday, said a source.

Ragging attempt at Polytechnic: Senior chases junior with knife

Scenes like straight out of a Bollywood film played out at Government Polytechnic College in Ambawadi on Monday when a senior student of the institute ordered his junior to drop his pants and later chased him with an open knife when the latter refused to oblige. In the end, police managed to caught the senior after the junior shouted for help.

The incident took place at 3:30pm when three friends Mayank Desai, Sawan Barot and Nagji Desai, all first year student of the institute were chatting at their college gate. Meanwhile, a black Swift car pulled in and their senior Dhiraj Rathod came out of it his five friends.

"Rathod came to us asked me to lower my pants. As I refused, he took a knife out of his car and charged towards me. We all three ran for our life and cried for help. Hearing my shouts, policemen stationed on our campus gave a chase to Rathod and nabbed him," Desai said.

Desai has lodged a written complaint with the college authorities and is now waiting for the response of the anti-ragging committee of the institute.

When quizzed on the incidence, in-charge principal of college, professor NR Pandya said, "Yes, it is true that we have received the written complaint and we are looking into it. After probe, we will take appropriate action," he said.

However, the professor added that they would not take any rash decision in the matter. "We don't want to tarnish any student's image by lodging a police complaint. Hence after the committee has decided upon the issue and if the senior is found guilty, we shall lodge a complaint." Sources claimed that two days back, few students had created a ruckus inside the college campus and Rathod was one of troublemakers.

Absconding polytechnic students yet to be nabbed

KANPUR: The city police are yet to nab the three students of government polytechnic who went absconding after manhandling their juniors on Sunday. Five students were caught by the staff of polytechnic and handed over to the police on Sunday. Three other students had managed to flee. The administration of polytechnic had registered a complaint against eight students after they manhandled their juniors.

The incident occurred on Sunday morning when a group of polytechnic students thrashed one Ajay Kumar Yadav, a first-year student. The injured student framed charges of ragging and informed the institute's administration about the harassment being faced by the junior students at the hostels.

Principal, government polytechnic, G S Rai and chief proctor D K Rudra on Sunday evening raided the hostels to nab the senior students but they managed to flee from the spot.

The incident has perturbed the students who have taken admission into the institute this year. The students of the institute, on the condition of anonymity, said that they are being forced by their seniors to leave the hostel rooms allotted to them by the institute administration.

They said when this move is being opposed, so they are ragged and manhandled. They are also being threatened to not inform the institute's administration about it.

A teacher of the institute said that armed policemen would be deployed at hostels of the junior students to avoid repetition of such acts.

4 engg students suspended for ragging juniors

7 law students suspended for ragging

Raipur, Sep 11: Seven students of the Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU) located in New Raipur were suspended from University hostel and fined for ragging four of their juniors.
The four freshers pursuing BA LLB had lodged a complaint with Vice-Chancellor Prof Sukhpal Singh after they were allegedly abused and beaten up by the accused on Thursday.

Taking cognisance of the ragging complaint--reported for the first time since inception of the law University in 2003--an Anti-Ragging Committee yesterday found the seven students (all from 3rd semister) guilty of the charges, and recommended their immediate suspension from the hostel.

The committee further slapped a fine ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 on four of them considering the gravity of the crime.

According to Vice-Chancellor Prof Singh, all the seven students had also been barred from participating in any events and activities of the Varsity in and outside the state while pursuing the degree course.
--UNI

13 students fined Rs25,000 each for ragging in Maharashtra

MUMBAI: The Government Medical College in Aurangabad has fined 13 final year students Rs 25,000 each for ragging a fresher, in what might be the first such case of its kind in Maharashtra.

The 13 seniors were accused of coercing the victim into playing cricket with them in the rain despite his repeated entreaties and protests. A day later, he took seriously ill. An inquiry into the incident found the 13 MBBS students guilty of ragging.


On receiving a complaint, we instituted a probe as per the guidelines prescribed under the anti-ragging act, said college dean K S Bhopale. After it confirmed that the student was ragged, we fined each guilty senior Rs 25,000 and banned them from participating in cultural activities.

The Medical Council of India prescribes a range of punishments contingent on the gravity of the ragging offence. Among the penalties are suspension from classes, rustication for one to four semesters and a fine of Rs 25,000 and Rs 1 lakh.

The Aurangabad ragging incident occurred on September 4, when the students were staging a cricket match between juniors and seniors on the college ground. The victim, explaining his poor health, tried to excuse himself from the contest, but the seniors blockaded the exit. Bowing down to the pressure, he played out the match. The very next day, he fell ill with high fever.

His father complained in writing to Bhopale, who set up a committee headed by the college's senior-most professor, S T Khan, to probe the allegation. Khan recorded the statements of the senior students and the victim, Bhopale said. Other junior students claimed there was no ragging. But the committee confirmed the victim's complaint and recommended suitable action against errant seniors.

RIMS denies ragging slur

A two-member team constituted by Ranchi University to probe the alleged ragging incident at the girl’s hostel of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) was stumped on Friday with officials of the medical college denying any such incident having taken place on the campus.

The team, led by dean of student’s welfare C.S.P Lugun, visited the RIMS campus this morning and interacted with students, none of whom came forward with any complaints, sources said.

College authorities, including RIMS director Tulsi Mahto and head of the eye department S.N. Choudhary, also denied having any clue about the incident.

“The incident was only reported in a section of the media and nobody has approached us with any specific complaint,” Mahto said.

He added that the anti-ragging squad of the college was active and had been alerted to keep an eye out for any suspicious incidents.

“I have directed all my staff and the members of the anti-ragging squad to be extra cautious. Surprise raids will be conducted from time to time in order to check any ragging-related incidents. The local police station too has been requested to step up patrolling near the hostels after sundown,” Mahto said.

The director, however, stated that he had received a written complaint from a group of girls of the 2008-batch in which some reporters of the electronic media had been accused of misbehaviour.

“The complaint said that the reporters asked certain questions to the girls which were against their modesty. We will probe the issue,” Mahto said.

RU pro-vice chancellor V.P. Sharan said action, if any, would be taken after the investigators filed their report .

“We did not want to take any chances and had constituted and rushed a team to RIMS to find out the truth. The investigating officials will take into account versions of the director, the dean, the hostel warden and students before filing their report,” Sharan said.

The investigators, on their part, chose to remain mum.

HC takes self motivated cognizance, issues notices to JNVU, MBM College dean over ragging

Jodhpur: Taking self-motivated cognizance of the Bhaskar report on MBM College ragging incident, Rajasthan High Court has summoned response from the varsity and college dean.

Justice Gopal Krishna Vyas has issued show cause notices and demanded response from Jai Narayan Vyas University (JNVU) and MBM College dean.

Kamal Meena had complained to the hostel authorities in MBM College that his son Shailendra Meena, was tortured in the name of ragging on September 15. The student was so terrified by the incident that he left college and went back to his home in Jaipur the very next day. Shailendra is a first year student of engineering.

It must be noted that the hostel administration had suspended 15 students before Kamal filed his complaint.

Haryana: Student stabbed for resisting ragging attempt

Panipat: In a shocking incident, a first-year student of the RN Engineering College, Matloda, was stabbed by his seniors outside college gates on Wednesday afternoon after he resisted their attempt to rag him.

The victim has suffered injuries in stomach and legs. The farmers working on the nearby fields took the injured boy to the Panipat Civil Hospital.

The victim Deepak, a first-year student of Medical Trade, said that his seniors had tried to remove his pants when he went bathroom earlier in the day. Though, they left when Deepak objected, but, they had other plans.

At 3pm around 15-16 students stopped and stabbed him with knife as Deepak stepped out of the college premises.

The police did not turn up till late at night to record the Deepak’s statement after the incident.

Even the college authority has turned a blind eye towards the incident. No one from the college administration came to the hospital or inquired about the victim’s condition. When the Bhaskar team tried to contact the college chairman AR Sharma his phone was switched off.

Patna College student expelled

PATNA: Patna College has decided to expel BA part I geography honours student Nitish Kumar from the institution for his alleged misbehaviour with his fellow students, including girls.

College principal Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh said that the decision to expel the student was taken by the discipline committee and anti-ragging squad of the college after hearing both the student and his guardian on Tuesday.

Surprisingly enough, about 10 days back, this student had complained of his ragging by some senior students. But, on inquiry, it was found that the boy himself indulged in ragging others and harassing girl students, said the principal.

Here, ragging cases refuse to die

MYSORE: University of Mysore (UoM) constituent Maharaja College is in news for a wrong reason.

While ragging stands nearly eliminated from city colleges, a student from Maharaja College was beaten up by a group of seniors when the former failed to abide by their diktat.

According to a source, the incident took place on Monday afternoon at the hostel which located adjacent to the college. Sources say the first-year-degree student, who recently took admission to the hostel, went to the mess to have a dinner on Monday night. However, he was bullied and asked by his seniors to wash their plates. This uncouth group also included students who had passed out of college and was staying in the hostel without permission. When the victim refused to wash the plates, he was brutally beaten up.

However, another source had a different version of the incident and disclosed that two students of first year BA hailing from a village in Kollegal taluk were going to mess. On the way, they accidentally brushed their shoulders against a senior student. At that time, the seniors asked the two students to behave properly and apologize for the incident. But they refused to apologize saying that they have done nothing wrong. At this point, six seniors beat up the juniors.

When the students approached the police, the city's former mayor sensing the gravity of the incident intervened and persuaded the victim to withdraw his complaint. "Though initially the student was reluctant to withdraw the complaint, he was forced to do so," a source said.

However, police who took note of the incident, issued a non-cognizable report. Four students have tendered their written apology to cops, whereas those students who passed out from college five years ago, were allowed to leave.

Meanwhile, a college teacher told TOI that officials' failure to check the overstaying of students is the reason for such ugly incidents.

Three students expelled for ragging

Varanasi, Sep 20 (PTI) Acting tough on an incident of ragging, the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) here has expelled three students for one year for allegedly harassing a junior student.The students -- Umashankar Shukla, Rajiv Pandey and Nand Kumar -- pursuing BAFA at the University have been expelled for one year after taking congisance of the 'Anti-Ragging Committee' report, Rajesh Singh, chairman of college Press, Publicity and Publication (PPP) cell, said."They would, however, be allowed to complete their BAFA after the one year expulsion period but would not be given admission for further studies in the BHU," he said.A third year BAFA student was allegedly ragged by the three students on the night of September 12.After taking cognisance of the student's complaint, the committee was directed by the college administration to conduct an inquiry and submit a report, he said.This is the third reported incident of ragging in BHU.PTI CORR KAP

Orissa orders departmenal probe into Eng. College ragging

Bhubaneswar, Sept 20 (PTI) Orissa government today ordered a departmental inquiry into the alleged ragging incident in a private engineering college on the outskrit of the state capital."A committee headed by Industries secretary will probe the alleged incidents of ragging at Gandhi Institute of Technological Advancement (GITA) where students of first year and fouth year clashed," Industries Minister Raghunath Mohanaty told reporters here.Stating that he had asked authorities to take stringent action against the students involved in the alleged ragging incident, the minister said that the college concerned would be held responsible if the ragging was proved.The clash between senior and junior engineering students took place yesterday over some dispute during celebration of Viswakarma puja on Saturday. Some students of fourth year allegedly passed comments on girls belonging to first year which led to a clash after which the college was closed sine die.At least 10 students including some girls, were injured in the incident, said Jatani police station inspector-in-charge K K Panigrahi."The students were taken to hospital,"Panigrahi said adding he was awaiting a formal complaint from the college authorities.The junior students had meanwhile given written complaint to the college principal alleging ragging by their seniors, police said.Meanwhile, the state's higher education department has reconstituted the state-level anti-ragging committee headed by the Governor M C Bhandare."Governor being head of the anti-ragging committee can exercise his powers to direct the secretaries/government officers/head of institutions to take necessary action, if he feels the steps taken are not appropriate," the notification issued by the higher education department said.Besides the governor, ministers of higher education, industries, health and family welfare, agriculture were members of the committee. Chief secretary, secetaries of different departments and vice-chancellors of all state and central universities were also members of the committee.Among its responsibilities, the state level anti- ragging committee is to issue suitable instructions to all the universities to be alert with regard to ragging, the notification said.

MGM thinks indiscipline, but for DAVV it's ragging

OUR STAFF REPORTER Indore

Three days after news of vulgar posters pasted all over at MGM Medical College, the college administration has done nothing but constituted a probe panel to look into the matter.

The DAVV has taken the matter seriously and now is preparing to send a notice to the medical college.

Notably, some 'senior'students of the medical college prepared the 'Beauty List Topper'by selecting 10 beautiful girls of the college and pasted some objectionable pictures of s with the girls'names all over the medical college.

After the news published in media, the college administration removed those posters and ordered an inquiry into the matter. Till date, no progress has been made in this regard.

But, the university has taken the matter seriously and considered it as 'ragging'. It is of the view that the new students have been mentally harassed by this act of their seniors and thus it should be considered as 'ragging'in the college. The anti- ragging committee official of the DAVV Dr Rajeev Dixit is now preparing to send a notice to the college administration in this regard.

Talking to Free Press, he said that the college would receive this notice on Tuesday. He said that he had also constituted a four- member committee to probe the matter.

Varsity student assaulted, made to consume liquor

Lucknow, Sep 19 (IANS) Four senior students of an Uttar Pradesh university have been booked for physically abusing their junior, forcing him to remove his clothes and consume liquor in a case of ragging, police said Monday.
Abhishek Singh, Purasharth Pandey, Rishikesh Singh and Girish, all enrolled in B.A. third year at Bundelkhand University in Jhansi district, brutally assaulted a first-year B.A. student, Rituraj Kumar, Saturday outside the campus in Nawabad area, police said.
‘After intercepting Rituraj outside the campus, the four students took him to a secluded place and forced him to act as a male stripper and consume liquor. Later, they assaulted Rituraj after he told them he would report the matter to the varsity authorities,’ police inspector Naseem Khan told reporters in Jhansi, some 250 km from Lucknow.
Bundelkhand University is a state government-run institution.
‘A case against the four students was registered late Sunday after the victim approached us along with his medical reports,’ he added.
According to police, all the four senior students are absconding.
‘We have sought assistance from the university officials for nabbing the students,’ said