Saturday, August 27, 2011

Medical student injured in attack by senior

JAIPUR: An MBBS student at MBS Medical College in Kota was seriously injured when a senior resident doctor attacked him with an iron pipe when he refused to obey his commands . The victim is undergoing treatment at the same hospital with both his hands fractured. The accused is on the run.

Police said that accused wanted the student to put his plate in the sink after they had dinner at the hostel mess five days ago. The junior student refused to follow the command . Irked over this, the senior barged into his hostel room in the wee hours of Sunday and attacked him. The medical college administration claimed that it was not a ragging incident, but the police have not ruled out the possibility.

According to the police , the accused, Dr Vikram Choudhary, a PG intern, had a fight with first year MBBS student, Dinesh Kumar Yadav five days ago.

"We have taken the statement of Dinesh. He says that they both had dinner. Vikram asked Dinesh to put his plates in the sink which he refused. Both had a verbal fight over this. It seems Vikram wanted to take revenge over this," said investigating officer Brijprakash .

Around 3 am on Sunday , Vikram knocked at the hostel room of Dinesh. "As soon as he opened the door, Vikram attacked him with an iron pipe," said the officer. Vikram hit him repeatedly and ran away. Dinesh was admitted to MBS Hospital.

Asked to sing songs by seniors, girl takes pics of 'tormentors'

College denies 1st-year student ragged in girls' hostel, but sets up inquiry panel after father arrives with political activists

College-Goers better be wary. Even things like asking your junior college-mates their names or asking them to sing a song can land you in trouble. A first-year engineering degree course student hailing from Mumbai who took admission at Zeal Education Society's Dnyanganga College of Engineering and Research in Narhe alleged ragging from her seniors and even called her parents to the college.

Acting on a complaint, the college immediately set up a three-member committee to inquire into the incident.
According to a few girls staying in the hostel of the engineering college, the alleged ragging took place
on Saturday night, around 11.30 pm.

"I came to know through another girl the next day. The girl had called her father to the campus. Some political activists also came and raised a ruckus. They said that the girl was told to entertain some senior students by singing and dancing to item numbers. They said she was also asked to take off her jacket and imitate ramp models," a girl from the hostel said on condition of anonymity.

But the girl did not let the incident let be. She told her father about the incident immediately and he, in turn, advised her to collect information such as the names of the seniors and even take pictures, if possible, of the girls who had entered her room. The next day her father arrived at the college along with a few RPI activists
and local policemen and demanded action against the senior girls for ragging his daughter.

'Harmless incident'
College authorities said that when they made inquiries they found out that no ragging had taken place and the senior girls had entered the room just to make friends and do a bit of mischief. "When confronted, the junior girl clarified that she had not been ragged. She was asked her name and they jokingly asked her to sing songs. But girl was not made to dance, according to the statement she gave us.

She called up her father who advised her to take their pictures as a precaution and he came here to ensure
no untoward incident takes place," said S M Katkar, director of the engineering college. He said the girl's father said a similar incident had taken place in Mumbai with one of his relatives and that's why the family did not want to take any risks.

According to Katkar, a three-member inquiry committee has been set up to inquire if the incident did take place and if the girl changed her statement either under pressure or due to panic. While no police case has been filed in this regard, students in the hostel are happy that the incident has at least led to seniors being afraid of ragging juniors as it might get them into troubble.

"I admire the girl's quick thinking and also her father's concern who arrived immediately. Even if someone was thinking of ragging, now they will refrain from it," said a girl.

'Scuffle' leaves BJB college tense

BHUBANESWAR: A clash between two students' groups in BJB Autonomous College here on Friday was termed as "a scuffle and not ragging" by the authorities of the college. The authorities, however, have decided to go ahead with students' union elections in the campus after taking undertakings from students that no such incident will occur again.

Principal of BJB Autonomous College, Dusmant Sahu said, "It was not a case of ragging but a minor scuffle between two groups of students. Ours is a ragging-free campus and we have taken undertakings from students during admission to take action against those found involved in ragging activity."

Principal of BJB Autonomous College, Dusmant Sahu said, "It was not a case of ragging but a minor scuffle between two groups of students. Ours is a ragging-free campus and we have taken undertakings from students during admission to take action against those found involved in ragging activity."

Sahu said, "I called them up and moderated a compromise between them and they have withdrawn the cases. If such untoward incident will occur again, we may cancel the students' poll."

Sahu said, "I called them up and moderated a compromise between them and they have withdrawn the cases. If such untoward incident will occur again, we may cancel the students' poll."

A group of students sat on a dharna demanding a ragging-free campus and stopped outside students from entering the campus on Saturday. "There is tension in the campus and police deployment, which is not good for the academic atmosphere of the college. Such incidents bring a bad name to the college," said Ranjan Sahu, a student.

A group of students sat on a dharna demanding a ragging-free campus and stopped outside students from entering the campus on Saturday. "There is tension in the campus and police deployment, which is not good for the academic atmosphere of the college. Such incidents bring a bad name to the college," said Ranjan Sahu, a student.

Friday, August 26, 2011

NIT Nepali students complain of ragging

HYDERABAD: The National Institute of Technology (NIT), Warangal, was embroiled in a ragging row after some junior Nepali students complained against their seniors. While the NIT authorities said the matter would be probed, police warned the seniors of stringent action.

A senior police official said they had received information about the ragging menace on the campus. "We have deployed additional forces on the campus. We would deal sternly with those resorting to ragging," he warned. It is learnt that the juniors had dropped anonymous complaint letters in the hostel complaint box some time back, but no action has been taken against their tormentors. Sources said 35 Nepali students took admission this year and they were being harassed by over 70 of their senior compatriots. The petrified juniors complained to the NIT authorities that the seniors were holding them `captive' inside the campus.

It may be recalled that NIT was embroiled in a major controversy in March last year after its former director Y V Rao lodged a complaint with police against three students belonging to the Telangana region for ragging. The students had alleged that Rao, who hails from the Andhra region, was vindictive towards Telangana students. Sources said the ongoing Telangana movement has also come as an excuse for seniors to get away by ragging their juniors. "The seniors are indulging in criminal activities such as physical torture of girls and boys. Particularly, students from Andhra region are targeted," a student not wishing to be named alleged.

8 held for abducting, ragging engg students

NAGPUR: The city police on Monday arrested eight youths for allegedly kidnapping and ragging two first-year students of an engineering college. Prakash Singh, 17, has alleged in his complaint to Nandanvan police that he along with his co-student Abhijeet Maran, 19, was forcibly taken by college seniors to various locations and ragged for hours. Police said that after being kidnapped, the two boys were forced to strip and subjected to physical humiliation and abuse.

Whenever they refused to comply, they were beaten up. This incident is one of the ugliest ragging cases that have come to light in the last couple of years. Prakash is a student at Bhagwati Chaturvedi College of Engineering (BCE) where some of the accused also study. Of the eight accused, Pushpajeet Ranjan, Manish Singh, Ranjan Chanchal, Vishnu Singh and Prince Kumar Rai are students of BCE. Apart from Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act, the accused have also been booked under the various sections of the IPC. These include section 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful group committing offence against common object), 352 (assault), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 294 (obscene acts), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 363 (kidnapping).

Police said the accused took away victims from their residence on Monday. A third student was let off as he pleaded that it was time for his afternoon prayers. This student then informed the victims' local guardian, Chandan Prasad.

Speaking to TOI, Prasad, said, "I was informed of the destination in Chitnis Nagar where Prakash was being held. I reached there from my residence in Hingna by 4pm. I then convinced the seniors to release the boys and dropped them back to their residence."

(Names of victims have been changed to protect identity)

Goa Engg College to probe tussle between student groups

PONDA: The Goa Engineering College (GEC) has asked its disciplinary action committee to probe into Friday's incident, where two groups of students got into a tussle in the college premises.

TOI was informed that two groups of students of the Farmagudi-based GEC got into a tussle on Friday. The confrontation was triggered by messages posted on social networking site facebook.

Engineering college authorities have taken a strong note of the incident and have resolved to hand over the matter to the disciplinary committee for further action, said Vivek Kamat, acting principal.

"We have taken note of the incident. It was not an incident of ragging. The students involved in the matter were students of second year and the third year", a member of the anti-ragging committee of the college said, on condition of anonymity.

"If the new admissions to the first year B.E course were the victims, we could have looked into it as an incident of ragging. However, both groups comprise senior students," the member said.

"Ponda police had also summoned eight students allegedly involved in the matter. Police had suspicion that it was a ragging incident, and warned the students," he added.

Kamat, who is also acting director of technical education, has handed over a letter to Ponda police clarifying that the incident is not related to ragging. Kamat, along with members of the anti-ragging committee, also held a meeting with the Ponda police inspector on Saturday. "The meeting has resolved to hand over the issue to the disciplinary action committee to decide. A decision on when this committee will meet, will be taken on Tuesday," the committee member said. tnn

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Another Case of Ragging Registered in Patna

Patna: Despite strict ban against ragging in all colleges, a first year student of B. N. College in Patna on Friday was badly beaten up after he refused to comply to the demands of a group of senior students, authorities in Patna said.

Political Science student Prithvi Raj, in a police report, said a group of senior students stopped him in the college campus on Friday and heckled him preventing him from attending his class. When he showed resistance, they kicked him and hit him in his face while threatening to make his life miserable if he didn't listen to their demands.
A scared Prithvi Raj then complained to the Principal who assigned a professor to investigate the case and take suitable action against the erring students.

Authorities turn blind eye as L D hostel students suffer

Tuesday’s incident in which a fresher was reportedly slapped by a drunk senior has created panic among other students. They fear the worst is not over yet as outsiders continue to frequent the engineering hostel without anyone checking them Tuesday night’s alleged ragging of a fresher by senior students after reportedly consuming alcohol at the L D engineering college hostel has not only created a sense of fear among hostel inmates, but is also indicative that the worst might still be waiting to happen if the authorities continue to turn a blind eye to the problem.

A day after the incident, the matter was handed over to the anti-ragging committee, a student was ousted from the hostel and the police were trying to trace the ‘guilty’ students. But this has done little to create a sense of security among the inmates, who continue to live amid fear. The authorities need to wake up and take some concrete measures to avoid recurrence of such incidents, many students complained.

Barely a year ago, a 30-year-old man was stabbed to death on the hostel premises in a brawl that followed a drinking session in a hostel room. Though none of those involved in the incident were college students, they had gathered for a booze session in the room, and then got into a brawl.

A number of students, university staff and security personnel whom Mirror spoke to after the Tuesday incident, mentioned that the interference of outsiders, who would frequent the hostel without any check, consumption of liquor and harassment of junior students was quite common in the hostel, with the authorities turning a blind eye to such incidents.

A security personnel of Gujarat Industrial Security Force (GISF) even alleged that everything was happening with the consent and knowledge of college authorities. “The rector himself has been having booze sessions with some of the inmates. How do you expect him to stop such activities? Such booze sessions and brawls are common with outsiders easily gaining access and there is no sense of security among the students,” he said.

The college authorities admit they can do little to prevent entry of antisocial elements into the hostel, but denied the involvement of officials in such activities.

“No official from the college is involved and such allegations are baseless. If a security personnel finds anyone involved in such activities, he should bring it to the notice of authorities or nab the persons who are involved,’’ said L D engineering college Principal M N Patel.

Patel also claimed that under given circumstances, it was not possible for the authorities to keep a check on such incidents. “There are too many entry points to the premises, all of which cannot be closed. If any of the security personnel or students notice anyone indulging in such activities, they should bring it to the knowledge of authorities,” he said, adding, “it was practically not possible to keep a watch on all 1,000 students who are staying in 240 rooms of hostel.”

However, security personnel and students maintained that whenever authorities were apprised about such incidents, they did little.

In his complaint to the Gujarat University police station, Ashish Sorathiya has alleged that the rector whom he approached after the incident, tried to hush up the matter. “Instead of showing any concern about the incident he asked me to give him a written complaint about the incident. He did not show any interest in getting to the bottom of the issue, nor did he accompany me to the police station,” Sorathiya said.

The police file

In his complaint to the police, Sorathiya, who is a first year student and had come to stay in E block, room number 520 two days ago, said, “Around 8.30 pm when he was watching his two roommates playing chess, Satyam Modi and Neel Patel along with a few others came there from another room where they had had a drinking session. Modi, who was drunk, asked Sorathiya to show respect to his seniors and address him as Bhai.

Neel Patel, who too seemed to be under the influence of liquor, slapped him. A frightened Sorathiya, mentioned this to some other students who were from his region. Soon a call was made to the local police control room. Sorathiya and some other students then went to meet rector N K Arora, who asked him to give a written complaint about the incident. Later he filed a non-cognizable complaint against Satyam Modi, Neel Patel and four others at the Gujarat University police station.

Police Inspector S J Vagasiya, who is looking into the complaint, said going by the version of complainant and others, the incident does not appear to be that of ragging. “We are trying to reach out to the students named in the incident but they are not traceable,’’ he said.

Action taken by college

According to L D Principal M N Patel the matter has been handed over to the anti-ragging committee, which will give its report within a week. “Before drawing any conclusion we should await the findings of the report,” he said. Both, Satyam Modi, and Neel Patel who are in seventh semester will not be eligible for placements, he said.

During the initial probe it has been found that Modi was staying illegally in the hostel. Neel Patel, who also faces allegations of ragging, meanwhile has been barred from the hostel till the anti-ragging committee submits its report. Parents of both the students have also been summoned.

The principal also assured that if it is proved that the students were involved in ragging, their admission would be cancelled.

No takers for rector’s post

NSUI, meanwhile, has given a memorandum to the principal seeking removal of Rector Dr N K Arora for his “inaction and irresponsible’’ behaviour. The memorandum said he showed no concern towards the affected students and did not act responsibly.

Even though present rector is facing allegations of indifference and being hand-in-glove with the students who were indulging in unlawful activities including boozing, there has been a reluctance on part of the university staff to take up this post.

Apart from dealing with as many as 1,000 students in the hostel, many of whom would not mind flouting their proximity to political parties and heavyweights, the post comes with no incentives such as house rent allowance and restriction on movement. With hardly any member of the faculty showing willingness to take up the responsibility, they are forced to take up this post, with an assurance of a change after a while.

College authorities suggest that instead of such a ‘stop-gap arrangement’ the responsibility to manage college affairs should be handed over to a trust or private security agency.

Anatomy of clashes

L D College of Engineering hostel, which houses 1,000 students from different regions is not new to brawls and incidents of violence. Till four years ago, students, coming from same regions were allotted rooms in the same block.

For instance, students coming from Mehsana and Saurashtra were given rooms in A and B blocks. Similarly, C block was allotted to those from outside the state and D block was kept for students of polytechnic. However, when it was found that the students from particular region and communities started getting into brawls after making their groups, a segregation was done.

Authorities also maintained that around 35 IAS officials have accommodations near the hostel and there is a Public Works department office near to the campus. It was not possible to restrain the movements of vehicles, which made it easy for several unwanted elements to gain access into the campus, they said.

(Inputs by Vijay Zala)

Ragging accused given assignment

COIMBATORE: The district court here has ordered five students of Kongunadu Arts and Science College accused in a ragging case to prepare multiple reports on the ills of ragging in educational institutions.

Two of the accused have been ordered to delve into the origin and evolution of ragging through various case studies and while two other students have been asked to compile a list of incidents of ragging and their direct and indirect consequences during the last five years in the state. Another accused have been asked to prepare a special report on the need for effective participation of students in preventing ragging in educational institutions.

The court, taking into consideration the fact that all five accused were college students, spared them the procedure of presenting themselves before the local police station or district court on a daily basis. "Since all accused are students and might suffer trauma and stigma if they are asked to report to a police station or court, the court has decided to ask them to compile and prepare these reports. The reports should be handed over to their college principal before August 30," observed judicial magistrate-I LS Sathiyamurthy while hearing the bail petition of the students on Tuesday.

The five students, pursuing BSc zoology, were arrested under section 4 of Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Ragging Act last Thursday (August 4). They were handed over to the police after the anti-ragging committee of the college conducted an internal probe into a complaint filed by 12 MSc second year girl students who accused the five of verbally abusing them on the campus on July 28. Based on the complaint, college authorities lodged a complaint with Thudiyalur police. "The first two accused V Thangamuthu (20) of Erode and G Vijayakanth (21) were ordered to trace the origin and evolution of ragging in various levels of education with the help of case studies and preventive measures adopted by colleges.

The third and fourth accused R Lalithkumar (20) and G Manikandan (22) have been ordered to compile a report on the total number of ragging incidents reported in the state during the last five years and along with the direct and indirect consequences of these reports. "They can trace these cases with the help of media reports and clippings and look into each of these incidents in detail," the magistrate observed. The fifth and final accused S Prabhakaran (24) has been ordered to study the impact of various programmes adopted by colleges to prevent ragging through active student participation and co-operation in higher education institutions. The students will have to submit the report on or before August 30 to their college principal. Thangamuthu is a first year student while rest of the four accused are third year zoology students.

Ragging: SFI demands action against medicos

SFI state secretary P Biju demanded legal actions against the senior students of Thrissur Medical College who ragged a junior student on the other day.
At a press conference here, Biju alleged that a senior police officer had a hidden agenda to save the culprits in the incident.
Biju said that the Public Service Commission had lost its credibility with the appointment of KS Radhakrishnan as chairman. He added that SFI would hold a Rajbhavan march on August 16 demanding the replacement of Radhakrishnan.
He asked the government to make the Agricultural University and Veterinary University a self-dependent one and provide full authority to the Calicut University. He accused that the Calicut University was functioning as a department of the state government.

Six students booked for ragging, assaulting juniors

Raigarh, Aug 9 (PTI) A case has been registered against six students for allegedly ragging and assaulting their juniors at the Post-Metric Tribal Boys hostel here, police said today. According to police, five students of class XI have accused six of their seniors in the hostel, studying in class XII, had ragged and assaulted them. One of the complainants Yudhisthir Majhi has alleged that the accused used to force them to buy cigarettes and liquor late in the night and also used to beat them. The complainants further alleged that last night the accused identified as Sanjay Ekka, Haridhar Urav, Sanjay Sidar, Bhushan Sidar, Vijay Urav and Bhagirath Sidar beat 15 juniors for not showing respect to them, seriously injuring them. A case under relevant sections of the Ragging Act and the IPC have been registered against the six accused, who are all absconding, police said.

Students vacate hostel to protest ragging charge

MALDA: On Saturday morning, a private college in Bolpur saw students leaving the hostel. In the evening, the same episode got repeated at Gour College in Malda. But the only difference between the two incidents is that while students were asked to vacate hostel in the first case, in the latter students thought it prudent to do so when charges of ragging was labelled against them.

Tension kicked off at the college when Kajal Mandal, a first-year Education (honours) student from Gajole, complained to the principal that he had been ragged physically at the hostel. Principal Dr Pranatosh Sen was quick to act and called some senior students to his chamber to resolve the issue. But the seniors claimed Kajal used to bring outsiders to the hostel and consume liquor, which was strictly against the hostel regulation. "He even threatens to bash up the seniors with the help of the outsiders," a senior student alleged.

However, Sen tried to sort out the difference and asked them to live peacefully. Soon after, they returned to Shibram Hostel and threatened Kajal for complaining to the principal. Untamed, Kajal rushed to the principal's chamber and apprised him of the situation. Sen then visited the hostel himself and warned the senior students against any high-handedness.

But this led to something that the principal didn't expect. The students protested against the principal and all the 69 students of the hostel, except Kajal, left the hostel with their luggage. They alleged that they were suffering from insecurity. One of the student said, "The principal did not listen to our pleas and took side of the one who falsely accused us. We are not secured in the hostel any more."

Sen, the embarrassed principal, said, "I did not get the information of all students leaving hostel. They might be going home for two-three days." Regarding his scolding the senior students, he said, "I have to take action if I get the complaint of ragging."

Bolpur college ransacked over ragging row

BOLPUR: An allegation of ragging by a first-year student at a private college in Bolpur led to a pandemonium at the campus on Saturday. The college authority was forced to declare closure of the institution sine die following the trail of events.

On Thursday, a first-year student complained to the college authority that he had been ragged by senior students. The authority asked him to go on leave and promised to take action against the accused, if found guilty. After investigation, they were indeed found blameworthy. It was decided that disciplinary action will be taken against those senior students.

However, the decision did not go well with the second-year students. In an act of vengeance, they raided the hostel of the first-year students on Friday night. When they tried to break into the rooms of their juniors, they were resisted by college employees, who became the target of their wrath and ended up being beaten severely.

Sensing trouble, the college authority declared closure sine die on early Saturday morning and asked the students to vacate the hostels. Before leaving the hostel, second-year students ransacked the hostel for the second time. Bolpur Police rushed to the college and controlled the situation.

"We had informed the authority unofficially about ragging at the hostel a couple of times earlier. But nobody paid any attention. However, we never thought the situation would go this far," said a first-year student.

Abdus Samad, an official of the college, said, "After our investigation, we found some second-year students guilty. We had decided to call the guardians of the students to take necessary action against them. In the meantime, students became violent and ransacked the college and the hostels. We discussed the issue with the guardians on Saturday. We have set up a committee to find out who were involved in last night's chaos. We have informed the guardians that no unruly students will be allowed to stay at the hostel."

Second-year Hindu College student ragged

NEW DELHI: Even as college authorities are claiming that strict measures are in place to check ragging, an incident of ragging of a second year student of Hindu College on North Campus by his seniors has come to light. According to the complainant, the second-year student was insulted inside the college auditorium in the presence of other students.

This report comes even as Delhi Police is searching for the elusive students of Dyal Singh College and Delhi College of Arts and Commerce who had called up the UGC's anti-ragging helpline number claiming they were being ragged at their respective colleges.

According to sources, the senior student had asked the BSc second year student of Hindu College to hurl abuses at himself in front of a packed hall of 60 students. When the victim refused to heed to the commands, he was allegedly laughed at by those present inside the hall. The victim later registered a written complaint with the college authorities. When contacted, DCP (North) I B Rani denied having received a formal complaint. "Probably, they are dealing with the case at the college level first,'' she said.

According to sources, Anurag was interviewed by the theatre society office-bearers on Wednesday evening. "When the senior student asked him if he has sought someone's recommendation, the victim replied that he could not arrange one. The senior then asked him to hurl abuses at himself in front of 50-60 students present inside the auditorium. He hesitated initially but later he did as directed. The students present in the auditorium then made fun of him,'' claimed a source.

Meanwhile, the south district police denied having received any complaint from the parents of the deceased IIT first year student alleging ragging as the reason behind the suicide. "The postmortem of victim has said that there was no foul play. We have spoken to Dinesh Ahlawat's classmates and hostel mates, and they have all said that he had not been attending classes for the past two days. We are yet to find the exact reason behind the incident,'' said Chhaya Sharma, DCP (South).

Sources, however, claimed that the deceased was not happy with the course that he was pursuing and was also missing his home at Rohtak. Dinesh had secured 95% in Class XII boards and had got 1097th rank in the IIT entrance exam.

A second-year student of Hindu College was insulted inside the college auditorium in the presence of other students

Student goes missing from GSVM hostel

KANPUR: A PG student of the Ganesh Shanker Vidyarthi Medical College (GSVM) is reported to be missing under mysterious circumstances from the boys' hostel for the past three days. His family members hold his seniors responsible. They claim the boy went missing after a ragging session.

Pankaj Patel, a native of Raipur and a student of MD orthopaedics, is missing from room no: 35 of NRH Hostel of GSVM since Wednesday morning. The matter came into light when his brother, Lokesh Patel, called him on his cell phone but it was found to be switched off. The family members then tried to locate Pankaj by asking his friends, but all efforts proved futile.

"His phone has been switched off and he is missing for the past three days," said Lakhan Lal Patel, Pankaj's father. He also informed that they had lodged a missing person report at Swaroop Nagar police station on Friday morning.

Pankaj's brother Lokesh Patel claimed: "Pankaj called me on Tuesday night and told me that one of his senior doctors had humiliated him in front of a number of patients at the emergency ward of LLR hospital. He was even slapped. Since then, his mobile has been switched off and he has been missing."

However, the GSVM authorities denied the allegations made by the family members and colleagues of the victim. College principal Anand Swaroop said they had already filed a missing person report at Swaroop Nagar police station on Thursday night. "I admit that the student is missing, but it is not at all true that he had been ragged. Pankaj was feeling overburdened and hence ran away," he claimed.

However, his batch-mates said Pankaj was being harassed by a senior student and had even complained against him with the college authorities. But, no action was taken against the accused student. It emboldened him into getting even more nasty with Pankaj.

Three students held for ragging in Himachal

Three students of an engineering college in Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh were arrested Thursday for ragging, police said.
Avinash Chaudhary, Ankush Kumar and Abhinav Thakur, all students of National Institute of Technology, ragged eight students of the first year, Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Sharma told IANS.
"The case was registered Wednesday evening on the complaint of the institute's registrar," he added.
The hill state was in news last year when a Dharamsala court held four senior medical students guilty and sentenced them to four years' rigorous imprisonment in the Aman Kachru ragging-to-death case.
Aman, 19, who was in the Rajendra Prasad Medical College and Hospital in Tanda in Kangra district since 2007, died March 8, 2009, after he was ragged by the four drunk seniors.

Four students rusticated, two others fines for ragging

Sambalpur (Orissa), Jul 4 (PTI) Four students of Vir Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT), Burla, were rusticated for a year for allegedly ragging juniors, university sources said today.Two other students were fined Rs 10,000 each for their alleged involvement in the incident.Action was initiated against the students on the basis of the report of university's disciplinary committee to which the matter had been referred, they said.Some students of the 3rd semester had complained that they were ragged by seniors on July 24. They were allegedly beaten by the accused 5th Semester students when they protested against this, the sources said.The disciplinary committee examined both sides and decided to take action against six students of the 5th semester for the incident.The four rusticated students were identified as Sambeet Kumar Mishra, Soumya Ranjan Jena, Chinmay Prasad Patra and Kartikeswar Parida. The university authority directed the four students to keep away from both the varsity and the hostel for one year, sources said. The others - P Pravin Kumar and Ankur Alkhad - were fined and also ordered to vacate the hostel immediately. "We have asked them to furnish affidavits stating that they would not repeat such behaviour in the future", they said.

Ragging case registered in Indore college, administration denies

Indore: A case of ragging has come up in Saifi Golden Jubilee Quaderia College. A girl was reportedly locked away in the veranda near the college library and her seniors questioned her in the name of ragging.

The girl, a first year student of B Com, said she had gone to the library when Mohsin Khan, Sameer Ahmed, Masar and three other students followed her and closed the door near the verandah of the library. She managed to push away the offenders and escape.

The girl informed her family about the incident who approached the college administration. They were, however, asked to hush the matter rather than being granted justice. The family of the girl then lodged a complaint with police.

The girl said a group of boys in her class insisted on asking her name repeatedly and often troubled her. She further said such incidents of ragging must be stopped.

College administration denies ragging

The college administration, on the other hand, refused to say that there was a ragging case. Officials said it was a case of students troubling classmates, not ragging.

They have decided that the boys should ask forgiveness. Sources said the authorities were not likely to take any action against the culprits. The case of ragging had been converted into one of eve teasing, they said.

Abuse of boy rocks Patashala

The SV Veda Patashala of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) at Tirumala has yet again been rocked by a brutal incident of ragging, sexual abuse and attempt-to-murder of a student by his seniors.

The student, 12-year-old boy from Kodada in Nalgonda district, joined the school for Vedic studies three years ago.

On Tuesday morning, his parents paid a casual visit to the school to see their son. On seeing his parents, the victim broke down and wept profusely.

The concerned parents found blade cuts all over his body and marks of strangulation around his neck. He was feverish and was rushed to the TTD’s Ashwini hospital at Tirumala.

The 12-year-old boy who was harassed, accompanied by his parents, met the TTD Joint Executive Officer (Tirumala), Mr K.S. Srinivasa Raju.

The boy revealed the hell he had been facing from senior students at the Veda Patashala for several months now. Four students are thought to be involved in the abuse of the boy. A couple of days ago, the seniors tried to crush his neck by placing it below the lid of a trunk box. His head was also smashed in a doorway.

The parents pointed out that though the boy had been running a high temperature for two days, the school management had not taken any notice.

The TTD’s JEO held a closed meeting with the parents and has assured them that he will take the culprits to task.Shockingly, no police complaint seems to have been registered.

The Tirumala DSP, Mr Rama Uma Maheshwara Sharma, confirmed that no complaint had been received from the TTD officials so far. On May 2, a junior student of Vedic studies, Surya Teja, 12, was subjected to similar violence by senior students. The TTD had tried to hush up the incident but it came to light when the child’s parents made a police complaint on May 18.

The ensuing furore had prompted the TTD to post a special officer to monitor the administration at the Veda Patashala, which is situated amidst dense forests.

Except for dismissing the students concerned and preliminary criminal proceedings, nothing much had come out of the inquiry in that case. As the latest case shows, the TTD has not taken the abuse of children in its care seriously enough, which is shocking for an institution of its repute.

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Facebook, a ragging tool on campus

Social networking has come of age, an ugly age in this case. What is considered as a medium of connecting people online has become a tool of intimidation. Read on. “We are your seniors in college. Either follow our rules or face the consequences. You will have to do whatever we ask you to
do. Or we seniors, will all f*** you. Change your college or you will die,”— Gouranga Biswas (name changed), first year student of Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur (BESU), was shocked to find messages in his Facebook account.
Shyamal Das (name changed), too, received messages in his Orkut profile, where his senior gave him a strict guideline of wearing only full sleeve shirts, avoid wearing belts and answer “chicken” when a senior asked for his name.

Biswas and Das were not the only ones, almost all first-year students of the college, one of the most esteemed in the state, faced the trauma from social networking sites to college grounds.

The six dared approach Trinamool Chattra Parishad, which in turn, approached the education minister and the police. So much so that the higher education department has already issues a circular alerting the district magistrates and police superintendents in the state.

“We will not tolerate ragging in any form. I have already asked all district magistrates and police supers to take immediate legal action in any such case,” said Basu.

“This is a serious issue. I have seen proof of their Facebook conversation. Our campus is a ragging-free zone. We are taking stringent action against the culprits. We have identified the students responsible,” said Ajoy Kumar Roy, vice chancellor of BESU.

“Students and guardians were very scared and they first approached me last week. They gave us a written complaint. We did our own investigation and found out that even on social networking sites, first-year students are being threatened and ragged.

In one case, a student was threatened that he would be killed. These students were also ragged when they were inside the college. We got a number of reports of ragging, which even included bashing up,” said Shankudeb Panda, Trinamool Chhatra Parishad president.

Panda along with guardians and students then wrote to the Howrah police superintendent, apart from holding a meeting with the vice chancellor of the college. Trinamool Chattra Parishad also met the higher education minister.

First-year students were subject to ragging on campus and asked to perform tricks. Some were called up at 3 o’clock in the morning and had to perform tasks given by seniors.

“I was shocked to see the messages in my Facebook inbox. It went on for a few days. Even inside the college I was harassed. We were too scared but ultimately we went to Trinamool,” said a victim.

Trinamool Chattra Parishad has opened a special cell for ragging victims.

“We are calling all students to report any such case to us and we will take it up with the highest authority. Identities will not be disclosed.

We have already asked the higher education minister to take steps to ensure such incidents do not recur in colleges, both state-run and private. We have also demanded to see if anti-ragging mechanism is present in all colleges,” said Panda.

“In education institutions there are anti-ragging committees, where the DM and SP have a representative each. If there are complaints, its nature determines the case,” said Champak Bhattacharya, SP, North 24 Parganas.

Allahabad Degree College students lodge ragging complaint

ALLAHABAD: A group of BSc students of the Allahabad Degree College on Thursday alleged being ragged and assaulted by their seniors. The students, belonging to BSc I, II and III, later lodged a complaint with the college chief proctor Ram Muni Pandey.

They also met AU chief proctor Jata Shankar and dean, College Development Council, Prof LR Singh, and told them about the incident.

The students first reported the matter to the the proctorial member of their college, BP Yadav.

"I caught a senior student, who identified himself as Rahul Pandey of LLB first year, on the campus. He could not show his identity card but admitted having beaten up a BSc I student for not showing respect to seniors," Yadav said. The matter was later reported to the officiating principal of the college, Ganga Sagar Tiwari. He assured to look into the incident.

Boy smarting from ragging, but all say it’s a blank case

Two years after an engineering student complained of mental harassment by his batchmates, the Mumbai University Students’ Grievance Redressal Committee (SGRC) is clueless whether it was indeed a ragging case.

Atul Tambavekar, a student of electronics and telecommunication engineering at the Indira Gandhi college of engineering, Koparkhairane, says the harassment began after he took admission in 2007-08.

“Some classmates began linking me with a girl. They also drew vulgar images on the institute’s walls with our names,” Tambvekar told DNA. “Everyone in college knew who was responsible, but nobody uttered a word out of fear. The professors too turned a blind eye.”

The aggrieved student says he decided to take a break for a year to avoid that group. “I left my papers blank following which the university questioned me,” recalled Tambvekar.

“I told them it was a ragging case and even approached the Koparkhairane police station to lodge a complaint. But they did not register an FIR. They lodged an NC, saying it cannot be a ragging case as there are no seniors involved,” said Tambvekar.

Hurt by the cold response from the police, Tambvekar filed a complaint with the SGRC in 2009-10. He even wrote a letter to the University Grants Commission. They inquired with the university and police, but there has been no action so far. “Now they are blaming me by calling it a one-sided love affair. They allege that I harassed the girl whereas she did not complain about me anywhere. I plan to approach the court now,” said a disappointed Tambvekar.

The SGRC differed with the boy. “We have received a complaint letter from the girl. But we won’t disclose its content to safeguard her reputation and safety. She is not ready to complain openly due to fear of society,” an SGRC member said. Added Mrudul Nile, another SGRC member: “It does not seem to be a ragging case, but a report is awaited.”

College principal Santosh Narayankhedkar told DNA: “This is not a ragging case. But we are awaiting the university report. At present, Tambvekar is not a bona fide student of the college due to several ATKTs that he has to clear.”

Rivalry spurred case of ragging

VADODARA: A four-member panel probing an alleged case of ragging in M S University's faculty of law has concluded that it was a case of enmity between two groups of students and not a case of ragging. Nisarg Jain, a first-year student of BA LLB (five years integrated law course), had alleged on Friday that a couple of his seniors along with some outsiders were ragging him at the faculty since the last three days.

Jain has alleged that he was asked to propose to girls and get their contact numbers by his seniors. The student has also alleged that his seniors and those from outside the university had also asked him to salute them. In the memorandum that Jain and ABVP leaders submitted to both, the officiating dean of Faculty of Law Rajendra Parikh and MSU vice-chancellor (VC) professor Yogesh Singh, a fifth-year student of BA LLB Imual Parmar was named of allegedly leading a group of students in the ragging case.

Ragging drama on college campus

GUWAHATI: Tension gripped the campus of the prestigious Cotton College after some students accused the principal and an employee of beating them up on false ragging charges.

According to the boarders of the Ananda Ram Baruah (ARB) boys' hostel, ragging on the campus and inside the hostel was banned and the charges leveled by the principal, Indra Kumar Bhattacharjee, were baseless.

"Every hostel organizes friendly games to welcome the freshers. Our hostel too organized an arm wrestling competition among the new borders on Thursday night and it was during this event that the principal and a fourth grade employee entered the hostel premise and started beating us mercilessly," said a border.

Seniors beat up student of Patna College

PATNA: Vipul Pandey, a BA Part- I student of Patna College, was beaten up by some seniors on the college campus on Wednesday. The incident reportedly occurred as the seniors indulged in ragging.

City SP Shivdeep Lande said the matter has come to the notice of the police, but university officials were not forthcoming on this and not disclosing anything. "Until, they cooperate with us, it will be difficult to identify the culprits and book them," the SP said.

The student sustained minor injuries and has reportedly been discharged from hospital after first aid.

Ragging sparks violent clash in college, 2 injured

COIMBATORE: In a violent clash between B Com and Bachelor of Business Management (BBM) students at the campus of SNR and Sons College in Peelamedu, two students sustained severe injuries on Friday. An FIR has been registered against 14 BBM students and a hunt is on for them.

D Tamil Selvan of Tirupur, 20, a B Com final-year student, was admitted to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital with stab injuries on his left torso. Another student, Goutham Belli of Ooty, a final-year B Com graduate, sustained minor injuries.

The feud between BBM and B Com students began on July 13 when a group of second year BBM students questioned the freshers on details regarding their hometown, name, etc. Third-year B Com students, who came to the spot, warned the BBM students against the questioning, claiming it amounted to ragging.