Ragging leads students to flee hostel, spend night out on road

Ragging leads students to flee hostel, spend night out on road

Rajkot, August 6: HARASSED by seniors and fearing more ragging, as many as 43 students of Balachadi Sainik School in Jamnagar fled from the hostel and spent the entire night on the highway near Jodia, some 7 km away on Sunday. They returned to the school hostel only after authorities promised action against senior student raggers. The students, however, allege that authorities have also turned blind eye to their complaints of severe ragging by the seniors of Classes XI and XII. The school, established by erstwhile ruler of Jamnagar and that also provides army training, offers CBSE syllabus from Class I to XII with hostel facility. On Sunday night, 43 of total 96 students of Class X ran away from the hostel. The walked up to nearby town Jodia and spent entire night out in the open on the highway. The school authorities located them in the morning. Most of the students hail from UP, Bihar and Jharkhand. `The seniors would beat us with belt in the name of ragging. Everyday we were asked to come in fancy dress and the physical harassment kept increasing’’, said Ravi Kumar, one of the students who had fled. Siddhant, another student, alleged that they made several complaints to principal in this regard but in vain. “Principal did not reply to phone calls by our parents in this regard’’, said another student. Principal BK Bharthi said, ``All students are safe and back in hostel now’’. But he maintained that he had not received any written complaint in this regard. However, he said, the matter would be taken seriously and action taken against seniors, if found guilty.

link to report : http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=249621