Ragging stays put on campuses

New Delhi: July 27, DHNS:

Ragging has spread its tentacles far and wide in the country, despite a media campaign against the social evil and police action, with the number of cases on campuses in 2009-10 doubling over the previous year, an NGO report shows.

A total of 164 ragging cases and 19 deaths related to the menace were reported across the country during the July 2009-June 2010, a report by the Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (CURE) says.

Four suicide attempts were also reported during this period. Two of these cases involved girls, among whom the incidents of ragging have gone up phenomenally. Four girls have also fallen victim to the menace in the last academic year.

These figures are nearly double the 2008-09 count. The number of deaths reported is also more, with seven more cases in 2009-10 as compared to the 2008-09 figure.
Ironically, the increase in ragging cases could be due to wider coverage by the media. However, the increase in the number of deaths is a matter of concern.

Uttar Pradesh reported 26 ragging cases, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 18, Tamil Nadu 14, Kerala 13 and West Bengal 11. Tamil Nadu is a new entrant to this list. Maharashtra registered four deaths, West Bengal four and Punjab three.

In 56 of the 164 cases, students suffered injuries, including permanent disability. Around 22 per cent involved sexual abuse. Twenty-four cases led to serious group clashes and violence among students. Drug abuse, alcoholism, extortion, caste difference or regionalism were noted in 19 cases.

The most shocking case of this year was of Nayan Adak, a 19-year-old student of Calcutta Institute of Pharmaceutical and Allied Health Sciences, who was asked by his seniors to dance, strip and smoke. When he refused, the seniors slashed his wrist with a blade and injected a drug into his body. Nayan was so depressed that he tried to commit suicide, but was rescued.

When his father asked him to rejoin classes, a distraught Nayan preferred death to studies. The incident shows gross societal failure wherein, even after intervention from social security institutions, the victim could not be saved.

Sixty-eight ragging cases or 42 per cent of the total incidents were reported from engineering and medical colleges.

Hostels and paying guest accommodation for students remained the breeding ground for ragging, with 91 cases or 56 per cent of the cases.
On the positive side, 2009-10 year witnessed an increase in the registration of FIR in ragging cases.

Police intervention was noted in 66 per cent of the incidents as against 59 per cent in 2008-09.
DH News Service

Ragging uncontrolled: National Report Card 164 reported cases, 19 deaths and 4 attempted suicides

Press Release

Ragging uncontrolled: National Report Card

164 reported cases, 19 deaths and 4 attempted suicides

Sub: Annual Status Report on Ragging in India

Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (CURE, Estd in 2001) has once again come out with its statistics to highlight the ragging scenario in higher educational institutions in India. According to CURE’s latest analysis of ragging in India, the academic session 2009-10 registered highest number of ragging deaths in recent times. In the last 12 months, 19 cases of deaths and 4 cases of attempted suicides allegedly due to ragging were reported in English media. The year also witnessed a marked increase in the number of ragging incidents involving girls, including 4 cases of deaths and 2 cases of attempted suicides by girl students.

Year	Reported Ragging Incidents	Ragging Deaths	Attempted suicides
2007-08	89	11	5
2008-09	88	12	5
2009-10	164	19	4

In the academic session 2009-10 (July, 2009 – June, 2010) a total of 164 cases of ragging were reported in English media from across the country. This shows that ragging cases reported have doubled this academic year. Whereas this increase could be due to wider coverage of ragging incidents by the media, the substantial increase in number of deaths is concerning. The figure for number of deaths is less influenced by reporting asymmetry.

The highest incidents were reported from Uttar Pradesh (26), Andhra Pradesh (18), Tamil Nadu (14), Kerela (13) and West Bengal (11). In comparison to last year, Tamil Nadu is a new entrant to this list, whereas Punjab has exited the list. It is important to also study, which states registered the maximum number of ragging deaths. Maharashtra (4), West Bengal (4) and Punjab (3) registered maximum deaths due to ragging. It is alarming to observe that 4 states comprise to 57% of the total ragging deaths across the country.

There were 56 cases of ragging that led to major and minor injuries to students including several incidents leading to hospitalization and even permanent disability to young students. 22% of the total cases involved sexual abuse of freshers. 24 cases of ragging led to serious group clashes, protests and strikes and violence between students. Element of drug abuse, alcoholism, extortion, caste difference or regionalism was noted in 19 ragging cases.

Cases leading to injury	56
Cases comprising of sexual abuse	36
Cases leading to group violence	24
Cases involving drug abuse, casteism/regionalism	19

However the most shocking case this year was that of Nayan Adak, a 19 year-old first year student of Calcutta Institute of Pharmaceutical and Allied Health Sciences in Uluberia. During ragging Nayan was asked by his seniors to dance, strip and smoke. When he refused, the seniors slashed his hands with a blade and injected something into his body. Later Nayan tried to commit suicide at home by drinking pesticide but was timely hospitalized and rescued. But Nayan was so traumatized by the ragging incident that after a month when his father wanted him to rejoin classes, Nayan hanged himself from the ceiling fan and died on October, 8^th, 2009. This shows a gross societal failure, wherein after intervention of family and social security institutions, the victim could not be saved from death.

Like the previous years, this year also, high percentage of cases were reported from Engineering and Medical Colleges with a total of 68 cases (42% the total cases). Hostels and paying guest accommodation for students still remain to be the breeding ground for ragging as 91 cases or 56% of the total cases were reported from these places located in and around the campus area.

On the positive side, in 2009-10 academic session was the increase in police involvement and registration of FIR in ragging cases. Police intervention was noted in 66% of the total ragging incidents reported during the last 12 months as against 59% in academic session 2008-09.

“With so much fear, mystery and secrecy associated with ragging the only way to analyse the situation of ragging in the country is to track media reports and explore the trends and nature of this evil. Number of unreported incidents of ragging are much higher, nevertheless media reports are an important indicator on how widespread the phenomenon of ragging is still existent in our country.” says Harsh Agarwal, Co-founder, CURE.

“Our analysis states the obvious: Ragging is still widespread and its social impact is non-trivial. We are not happy with the steps the government or the educational institutions have taken. There is a lot of talk, but little work. A simple question to ask is how many educational institutions were fined or deaffiliated for breeding ragging, The unfortunate answer is 0.” says Varun Aggarwal, Co-founder, CURE.

About CURE

Established in 2001, Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (www.noragging.com) is India’s foremost anti-ragging non-profit organization. CURE is a research organization dedicated solely towards the elimination of ragging and promotion of more positive ways of interaction among seniors and freshers in Indian universities. For more details, please contact:

Email: cure@noragging.com,

Engg college principal held for ragging

TNN, Jul 8, 2010, 12.39am IST

ANANTAPUR: The principal of an engineering college and three students were arrested in connection with a ragging case here on Wednesday.

While principal G Satish was arrested for failing to stop ragging activity inside his Intel Engineering College premises, the three B Tech students were taken into custody for ragging juniors.

C V Lokesh, a first year civil engineering diploma student, lodged a complaint with the principal about ragging by second year B Tech students -- K Sandeep, Srikanth and Y Shyam -- 20 days ago. But the principal did not respond. The same batch of students again resorted to ragging a few juniors including one Lokesh on July 3.

Though the juniors approached the principal, it was to no avail. It was then they brought the matter to the notice of the police. Rural inspector S Mahabub Basha told TOI that several complaints of ragging have come to their notice but the principal did not initiate any disciplinary action against the accused students.

"Cops in plainclothes were witness to ragging in the college in the last two weeks. B Tech students were seen ragging diploma students inside the college compound," he said.

Based on a complaint from Lokesh, the rural police registered cases against Satish and the three accused students. Srikanth and Sandeep were arrested on July 4 while the principal and Shyam were picked up on Wednesday.

Four students attempt suicide

Warangal, July 2: Four Kerala-based final year nursing students studying at Rohini School of Nursing here attempted suicide by consuming sleeping pills after they were reportedly reprimanded by their nursing school principal for indulging in ragging of junior students.
All the four, admitted to Rohini hospital’s intensive care unit following their suicide attempt on Thursday night, are out of danger now.

The students have been identified as Betsy Antony, 21, Jinchu Michael, 21, KR Reshmi, 21 and Jigimol Chako, 20. According to sources, the Rohini School of Nursing, near Subedari, which runs a four-year nursing course, has mostly students belonging to Kerala and Manipur.
The present final year batch here has 58 students, including 12 from Manipur, while the rest are from Kerala.

While ragging of junior students, who also hail from these two states, seem to be common here, sources said that the four girls felt disgraced when the nursing school principal Sister Nirmala selectively targeted them.

“There were other senior students, who too indulged in ragging of juniors, but only we four were targeted by the principal,” said Betsy Antony, one of the four girls, now recuperating in Rohini Hospital.

Speaking to this newspaper, she said, “The principal of the nursing school used abusive words against us four weeks ago when we scolded a first year student for not working.”

The students also alleged that they were ‘targeted’ by the principal on many other occasions.
However, Dalit Sena leader D. Suresh, who exposed the suicide drama, pointed fingers at the hospital-cum-nursing school administration.

“If the nursing school management did no wrong, then it should have informed police as soon as the girls attempted suicide last night,” he argued. Subedari police station SI Satish Vasala, who reached the spot immediately, said that they were still verifying the facts. “We are looking at all angles. The students complained of harassment by their principal,” he said, adding that they would register cases under appropriate section of IPC.

Ragging victims attacked again by tormentors

KOLAGHAT: The night of June 15, 2009, came back to haunt Abhay Singh and Sharad Kumar, now second-year students at Kolaghat Engineering College, on Sunday night. A year ago, Abhay and Sharad were ragged, assaulted and had to spend days in the hospital.

A complaint was lodged with the police and the file has been gathering dust since then. On Sunday night, Abhay and Sharad were beaten up, allegedly by the same set of seniors, for not withdrawing the complaint. The college authorities have sought police protection, but no complaint has been filed against the attackers.

On Sunday night, Abhay and Sharad — students of electronics and communications — were in their hostel room, revising for their ongoing exams. Around 10 pm, a group of students — allegedly from the third year — barged in.

Abhay and Sharad were dragged out of their bed and abuses were hurled at them along with blows and kicks. "They (the attackers) kept on asking why the police complaint has not been withdrawn. Despite the complaint, neither the police nor the college authorities have taken any steps against them," said Abhay.

For the next half hour, Abhay and Sharad were at the mercy of the 25-odd youths who had forced into the room. Thirty minutes later, some of the duo's classmates mustered courage and raised an alarm, forcing the assaulters to flee. Late in the night, the students reported the incident to the college authorities.

On Monday morning, the college authorities met East Midnapore SP Ashok Biswas, requesting him for security at the hostel and college. "We will post a team at the hostel. No fresh complaint has been lodged by the students," Biswas said. Sharad said they were too scared to lodge a complaint. "Our exams are going on. There is no other way for us but to depend on the college authorities," Sharad said. The college authorities refused to comment.

Tamluk MP Subhendu Adhikary went to the college and met the aggrieved student. "The administration has to take steps to ensure that such incidents are not repeated," he said.

Mystery shrouds BJ college medical student's suicide bid

Dayanand Meitei / DNA/Saturday, June 12, 2010 8:55 IST

Ahmedabad: Was it the ragging in the hostel that prompted the BJ medical college student to want to take her life? Or was it instead, the supposed embarrassment of having been caught stealing, that drove her to slit both her wrists, at her residence at Limbdi on Thursday night?

The reasons behind the second year MBBS student from BJ attempting suicide remain unclear. While the NSUI and the girl's parents cite ragging as the reason, college officials are saying the girl is a kleptomaniac.

When DNA contacted NSUI students, they claimed the institute's version to be completely false. State NSUI vice-president Bhavin Sinh Rathod said, "Our representatives got in touch with the girl and her parents, and found out that the institute wanted to suppress the girl's complaint of ragging against her seniors. They even forced the girl to remain mum and not reveal the matter to anyone. The depression led her to take the extreme step of attempting suicide."

According to reliable sources, the girl's parents, in their testimonial to the police, have stated harassment by the institute as the reason behind their daughter's attempt to kill herself.

As a protest against the institute, NSUI student members carried out a demonstration at the BJ Medical College's main office at around 2 pm on Friday, ransacking the premises and breaking chairs, glasses and computers.

However, officials of the BJ medical college denied any possible ragging. The college's dean Bharat Shah said, "The incident today was triggered by a wrong media report which claimed that the girl attempted suicide because of ragging."

Alleging that the girl suffered from kleptomania, Shah said, "On May 26, around 40 students complained that the girl has been continuously stealing things from the others in the hostel. When the hostel committee searched her room, they found the stolen clothes, mobile phones and ATM cards."

Shah added that following the incident, the girl's parents were summoned to the institute, and they confessed in writing about the stealing. "They volunteered to vacate the hostel themselves, though we didn't ask them to leave", he said, adding, "The incident has nothing to do with ragging at all."

As for the girl, after initial treatment at a local hospital in Limbdi, she was shifted to the Ahmedabad civil hospital.

Haryana varsity suspends three students for ragging

June 2nd, 2010 - 12:38 am ICT by IANS -

(Haryana), June 1 (IANS) Three MBA students were Tuesday suspended by the vice-chancellor of the Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) here for ragging their juniors, officials said.
The three students - Aman Redhu, Surender Bishnoi and Anil Dalal - were accused of physically harassing and intimidating two junior students of the Institute of Management Studies and Research (IMSR) here.

“Such acts are totally intolerable in our institutions and strict action will be taken against the errant students. We have suspended the students with immediate effect and started a probe into the matter,” said MDU vice-chancellor R.P. Hooda.

“We have banned their entry into the varsity campus till further orders. The hostel rooms of the accused have been sealed by the authorities concerned and we have withheld the results of their last examination,” he added.