Accused of ragging, four NIFT students suspended

SHIMLA: Four students of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) at Chheb in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh have been suspended for a year after they were found guilty of ragging 20 students of first year course two months back. The action followed after NIFT headquarters in Delhi decided to act tough against the accused students.

The college administration had already expelled one senior student in the case. NIFT at Kangra, second in north India after NIFT, New Delhi, was opened in August 2009. The ragging incident was the first such case in its two years of functioning. The incident had sent alarm bells ringing as Aman Kachroo ragging death case at Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College at Tanda is still fresh in people's mind.

A disciplinary committee was constituted to enquire the incident after junior students lodged a complaint with anti-ragging committee of the institution against five senior students, alleging ragging of juniors on October 6 and 7 in the hostel. Authorities had, however, maintained that ragging took place when the juniors were going out.

Confirming the development, NIFT Kangra director Dinesh Rangra said that students were already under suspension but now they have been suspended for a year.

"After the probe, the committee found the four students guilty, on which we recommended punishment to our headquarters," he said. tnn