[NewIndPress] Four accused surrender

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Tuesday January 8 2008 11:39 IST
Express News Service

THRISSUR: Four students of Kerala Agricultural University’s College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, allegedly involved in ragging a first year student of the college, surrendered before the Dy SP here on Sunday late night.

The surrendered students are- Berin P Varghese, 22, Abin Mathew, 20, R Assim, 19, and T M Ajas Muhammed, 22.

Another student allegedly involved in the case, Arun Raj, 23, was arrested by police on Saturday and was produced before the judicial magistrate here, who remanded him till January 18.

Police said that the surrendered students would be produced before the magistrate on Tuesday.

The five accused students had ragged a first year student of the college - Manu from Neyyattankara - in the college hostel on October 22. Following the ragging, Manu had attempted to commit suicide by cutting vein on his hand.

Manu had identified the five accused from the photos in the college register.

The accused students were absconding despite rejection of their anticipatory bail applications by the district court and High Court.

[ToI] Varsity to crack whip on ragging

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5 Jan 2008, 0421 hrs IST,TNN

NAGPUR: The RTM Nagpur University has decided to act tough to prevent cases of ragging. After second such incident in the university’s hostel at Law College Square on Sunday, vice chancellor S N Pathan on Friday directed the hostel warden to expel accused Samad Baig.

The VC’s orders came after a panel appointed under registrar Subhash Belsare submitted its report. The panel reportedly recommended the VC to expel the accused to ease tension prevailing on the premises.

Accordingly, the vice chancellor directed the temporary warden Arun Patil to remove Baig. Belsare confirmed the VC’s orders. The panel submitted its report after interacting with both accused and victim and also with eye-witness and friends. The accused pleaded that they’re innocent and were being falsely implicated.

The trouble started on Sunday when Sachin Walke, a first year student, lodged a police complaint of alleged mental and physical harassment by two seniors.

[InsideKerala] Ragging: HC declines to order payment of compensations

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Friday, 04.01.2008, 04:42am (GMT)

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday decline to order payment compensation to an engineering student who had to discontinue studies on account of unbearable ragging by a group of senior students. Ramla Makkar , mother of the student, Muhammed Shah had claimed Rs. 2 lakh as compensation from the college authorities as they had failed to take action against the erring students. The court however directed the management to return Rs. 74,405 paid as fee by the student.

[Yahoo] Ragging rampant in juvenile homes

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By HT
Friday January 4, 12:53 AM

RAGGING AT Delhi government-run juvenile homes is not something new, but for the first time 12 children were shifted out of a home in North Delhi's Alipur after the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) intervened. They were given shelter in a home run by an NGO.

The organisation, Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) rescued the children, who were employed as bonded labourers in zari units located in Khanpur area of South Delhi. The sub-divisional magistrate Mehraulli Sanjay Bagaria had sent them to the Alipur juvenile home until the process for their repatriation was completed. That was the beginning of another trauma for these boys.

"The senior boys in the home used to beat them up often. They were not given proper clothing and were not allowed to sleep in cots. On Saturdays, seniors used to force them to stand for hours as part of the induction programme into the home," said Sandhya Bajaj, member of NCPCR.

Bajaj had visited the home after some of the children complained of inhuman behaviour in the homes. "I found there that such ragging was a routine affair. Every boy who goes there has to undergo this sort of ragging. What I found strange was that the authorities had turned a blind eye towards such incidents," Bajaj recalled. It was then that she asked sub-divisional magistrate Bagaria to shift them to another home. Her plea was accepted.

The case of the 12 boys is not a case in isolation. Raj Mangal Prasad of NGO Pratidhi said most of the Delhi government's juvenile homes are virtually run by senior boys aged between 16years and 18 years, due to a huge shortage of staff in the homes. "When they are the bosses, ragging is natural and part of the culture to maintain disciplines in the homes," he said.

[ToI] Student complaints of ragging

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31 Dec 2007, 0350 hrs IST,TNN

NAGPUR: Yet another incident of alleged ragging surfaced at the boy’s hostel of RTM University on Friday after a first year student of Masters of Physical Education lodged a complaint at Ambazari police station of alleged harassment against two senior students of the same stream.

Victim Sachin Walke (26), reportedly approached Ambazari police station after he claimed to have been harassed by his seniors, Samad Baig and Prashant Bhandari. Police said that Walke was intimidated by the two senior students who compelled him to do some physical exercises as punishment in the night. The complainant, according to police, was being harassed for ignoring the dominance of the senior students.

"The police cannot directly register or comment on any case related to ragging incidents. We have handed over the complaint to University authorities. The decision on the report will be taken by a committee constituted to analyze it," said sub-inspector Vilas Kulkarni of Ambazari police station. "Once the report is sent back to us, we will take further steps," he added.

Meanwhile, sources also said that one of the seniors also approached the police station with a complaint about a commotion but was not encouraged. "A senior named in the complaint of the junior was trying to cover up the incident with a fabricated complaint," said PSI Kulkarni.

In an earlier incident, Ambazari police had registered a similar complaint filed by a student of political science, Gulab Bawanthade, against contributory lecturer Usman khan Habib Khan Pathan in August this year.

[NewIndPress] Ragging: Test identification parade sought

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Friday December 28 2007 11:03 IST

ENS

THRISSUR: The five senior students of the Kerala Agricultural University’s Veterinary College, who were accused of ragging a first-year student of the college, have filed a petition in the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court here on Wednesday pleading the court to direct the inquiry officer to conduct a test identification parade.

The accused students, who were present in the court, expressed their readiness to present themselves before the authorities concerned for the test identification parade.

The students alleged that merely on the suspicion of their involvement in the case, the police are harassing them. The case will come up for hearing on Thursday.

[NewKerala] Kerala HC asks govt to take effective action to end ragging

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Kochi, Dec 18: Dismissing the bail plea of five students in a ragging case, the Kerala High Court today said the state government should take effective steps to eliminate the ''pernicious practice from our campuses.''

Dismissing the bail application of Berin T Varghese and four other students of the Government Veterinary College, Mannuthi, accused in the attempted abetment of suicide by a junior student, Justice R Basant observed, ''the bane of ragging has been polluting the atmosphere in the professional college campuses of this country for a long period of time. The young students cannot be permitted to indulge in such vice.'' ''I have no doubt that prevention of ragging must now be held too serious a business to be left to the managements and principals of the colleges alone. Civil society has to intervene effectively to prevent such incidents in our campuses.'' The court also opined that strong legislative action supported by effective executive enforcement and judicial interpretation could certainly help the polity to prevent this vice.

The state had to undertake a minimum five-year ''war'' on ragging, not isolated skirmishes or battles to exterminate and eliminate this vice from the college campuses, the judge added.

Principals and managements must be compelled by law to cooperate with the law enthusiastically under threat of effective sanction, he said.

The history of war against ragging in the campus revealed that there had been no determined and positive action. The offence under the Kerala Prevention of Ragging Act was non-cognisable and bailable. The system could not expect the impossible from the police force. ''If you expect them to fight against ragging on behalf of the sublime polity of this country, they have to be equipped with necessary legal weapons,'' he added.

--- UNI