MP boy turns insane after severe ragging

By S Sanjay in Bhopal Friday, 26 August , 2005, 15:17
Twenty-year-old Raja dreamt of becoming an engineer but six months of torture in the name of ragging at Samrat Ashok Technological Institute (SATI) in Vidisha, 70 km from Bhopal, has virtually destroyed his future.
Driven to near insanity, he now spends most of his time in the isolation ward of a local hospital. Raja shudders while recounting his first term in college. He had to suffer hundreds of slaps and public abuse by senior students for almost six months.
Requests to be pardoned only heightened his woes and he instead of disclosing his torture, endured it silently till he lost his sanity. His dreams of earning an engineering degree have been replaced by an acute desire for vengeance.
"I will not let them get away with it," he keeps on repeating every time images of two senior students flash through his mind.
When not in hospital, Raja is confined round-the-clock in a small room of his Rohtas Nagar house. He is undergoing extensive psychological treatment.
His father said that he has decided to withdraw his son from SATI. All that he wants now is his son to be normal again. "I only pray to God that the college administration will return the documents of my son taken at admission," he said.
Dr R C Jain, director of SATI, when asked about Rajendra's ragging by senior students, pleaded ignorance. He said Rajendra's family must meet the college authorities to solve the problem.
Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission Chairman Justice DM Dharmadhikari, when contacted, said the parents or relatives of Raja must report the matter to the watchdog body before it can act.
Names have been changed to protect identity