Ragging case: Victim discharged
LUCKNOW: MCA student Sanjay Pal Singh, who went into a state of acute psychosis after being repeatedly ragged by some students of Lucknow University, was discharged from the psychiatry ward of the CSMMU on Monday. The doctor attending on him said he was perfectly fine now. Though a named FIR had been lodged with the Madiaon police, no arrests have been made so far.
Dr Vivek Aggarwal, faculty member of the CSMMU, who attended on Sanjay said that he was fully cured. “We discharged him on Monday. He does not require any medication now,” Dr Aggarwal said.
When asked whether Sanjay was suffering from any mental problems before he was ragged, the doctor answered in the negative. “It was because of the harassment that he developed these symptoms,” he said. There were rumours spread by private hostel Anand Villa that Sanjay was suffering from mental disorder even before he joined the hostel.
Warden and owner of Anand Villa Gyan Prakash Srivastava had told TOI on Sunday that Sanjay was a little eccentric.
‘‘He used to keep awake the whole night. He was suspicious of others and whenever he saw two people talking, he used to think they were talking about him,’’ Srivastava said. He added that Sanjay was given a room of his choice but he started having problems with other students. Sanjay’s local guardian Sudhakar Singh had refuted these charges.
Sanjay’s father Ajay Pal Singh had lodged an FIR with Madiaon police on Sunday that his son was ragged by residents of Anand Villa Hostel. Ajay has named RS Tripathi, Vikas Gupta, Pravin Chaudhary and other unidentified residents of the hostel as the accused.
Two outsiders, Naaus and Mama were also a party to the crime. They have been accused of mental and physical torture. Naaus and Mama threatened him of dire consequences.
The FIR also states that though the warden was informed about the incident no action was taken.
link to report : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Lucknow/Ragging_case_Victim_discharged/articleshow/2378595.cms
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Ragging case: Victim discharged
A management and a law student thrashed in ragging in UP, MP
A management and a law student thrashed in ragging in UP, MP
Lucknow-Bhopal, Sept. 17 (PTI): A management student has landed in a hospital's psychiatry ward after being beaten and humiliated while a law student was physically assaulted in two separate incidents of brutal ragging by seniors in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Sanjay Singh, a student of Sahara Arts and Management Academy in Lucknow, was allegedly ragged by students from Lucknow University and some other nearby institutions who lived in the same hostel in the outskirts of the city, police said.
Vivek Rai, LLB (Hons) first year student staying in the hostel of Dr Hari Singh Gaur Vishwavidyalaya in Sagar in Madhya Pradesh , has complained to Superintendent of Police Mohammad Shahid Absar, that senior hostel-mates had ragged him by physically assaulting him.
Both the incidents occurred on September 15 and police have registered cases.
Singh has lost his mental balance following the assault, police sources said but hostel authorities claimed that the victim who lived in a private hostel in Madiaon in Lucknow district was suffering from mental disorder.
He was suffering from acute psychosis and was undergoing treatment in the psychiatry ward of the medical college here, hostel authorities added.
Singh was allegedly beaten and humiliated while on his way to his college in a bus on September 15 last, following which he ran away from the hostel, police said.
An FIR was lodged by the victim's local guardian in which three inmates of the hostel were named, sources said, adding that investigation in the matter matter was on.
In Sagar, Vivek Rai has named four students - Akhilesh Verma, Pradeep Tiwari, Manish Tiwari and Sudeep Samdalia - and alleged they entered his room late that night and demanded money for consuming liquor.
When Rai refused, he was taken to another room and asked to follow their orders, the complaint said, adding when he declined again, he was beaten up by them.
The victim has also alleged some seniors kept arms and ammunition in the hostel to terrorise the juniors.
Meanwhile, the university administration has said that strict action will be taken against the accused students if the ragging charge was proved in the police inquiry.
link to report : http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200709171725.htm
Ragging drives MP boy to suicide
Ragging drives MP boy to suicide
BHOPAL: In yet another case of ragging-driven suicide, a first-year student of a private institute in Indore was found hanging from his hostel room ceiling on Tuesday.
Durgesh Shukla, 18, left behind a suicide note holding his seniors responsible for his death. Durgesh of Khandwa town in Madhya Pradesh had joined Pioneer College on August 24 to study computer applications and was sharing a hostel room with some senior students.
As word got around, ABVP activists took to the streets on Wednesday morning and demonstrated in front of the college. They alleged that the college management was protecting the culprits as it was reluctant to take action against them.
Police arrested 30 ABVP activists and used force to disperse them. Shukla wanted to be a computer expert and had secured admission in Pioneer College, 150 km from his hometown.
Police said Shukla had visited his parents for two days, earlier this month, and had told them that some senior students were mentally tormenting him.
link to report : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Ragging_drives_MP_boy_to_suicide/articleshow/2384836.cms
Indian student dies in 'ragging' ordeal
Indian student dies in 'ragging' ordeal
By Peter Foster
Authorities in India have moved to end the practice of "ragging" in which first year university undergraduates are subjected to bullying reminiscent of the worst era of English public school life.
The suicide this week of an 18-year-old computer student from Indore has renewed pressure on India's universities to stamp out the tradition said to date from colonial times.
Durgesh Shukla was found hanging from the ceiling fan of his digs, leaving behind a note accusing senior students of tormenting him.
advertisementAt its most innocent, "ragging" — an old fashioned word for "teasing" — amounts to harmless pranks, but in extreme cases it extends to sexual humiliation, physical beatings and even murder.
A survey found that 64 cases had been reported in the Indian media in 2005 and 2006, of which 10 ended in death, 11 in attempted suicide and 23 in injury.
However, activists say that only the most serious cases receive media attention, and untold thousands routinely suffer.
So serious has the problem become that earlier this year a special committee of India's supreme court ordered all college heads to expel and press criminal charges against those accused of the practice.
Accounts posted on an anti-ragging website includes boys being forced to strip naked in front of their female peers, being made to sing irreligious songs and even propose marriage to senior students.
link to report : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/24/windia224.xml
Cellphone behind AMU death
Cellphone behind AMU death
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Lucknow, Sept. 23: A cellphone was at the root of the murder that forced last week’s closure of Aligarh Muslim University, police said.
Three drug-addled youths, who allegedly stole cellphones and sold them to raise money for their addiction, were arrested today with a few stolen mobiles, including the one owned by Mazhar Naeem.
Mazhar was attacked when he tried to resist their attempt to snatch his cellphone near his hostel last Monday. He was declared brought dead at a local hospital.
Raghuveer Lal, Aligarh’s senior superintendent of police, confirmed that the motive was robbery.
“Mazhar, hit on the head with a blunt weapon, had a C-100 Samsung cellphone. They struck him when he tried to resist them. As he collapsed bleeding, they escaped with the cellphone.”
The C-100 handset, once a popular piece of gizmo, is believed to have a good resale value.
The trio, who the police identified as Ashraf, Tariq and Sadiq, are residents of Aligarh. A motorcycle and a country-made revolver, apparently used to hit Mazhar, have also been seized. Tests have confirmed that the traces of blood found on the weapon came from Mazhar.
A.K. Raghav, additional superintendent of the special task force, which assisted the local police in the probe, said the youths have confessed to their crime but claimed that they did not intend to kill Mazhar.
“We felt sorry when we learnt that he had died. We never wanted to kill him,” the police quoted Ashraf as saying.
Mazhar’s murder, the third to have taken place on the campus this year, triggered a student fury in which part of vice-chancellor P.K. Abdul Aziz’s home was burnt. Aziz was not in his residence during the late-night arson.
The proctor’s office and staff canteen were also ransacked and furniture smashed. University authorities have estimated the property damage at a few crores.
Ragging alarm
The number of ragging incidents in the past four mon ths across the country has more than tripled over the same period last year, an anti-ragging forum told PTI.
The Coalition to Up- root Ragging from Educ- ation said 52 cases were reported between May 21 and September 21 compared wi-th 15 in the same period in 2006, the for-um said.
link to report : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070924/asp/nation/story_8353906.asp
Mar Ivanios expels 7 students
Mar Ivanios expels 7 students
Tuesday September 25 2007 04:56 IST
Express News Service
T'PURAM: Seven students, including four boys and three girls, have been expelled from the Mar Ivanios College in the city after they were found guilty of ragging a first-year degree girl student.
Dixon A, Sunil S, Visakh V K, Pramod Augustine, Nissy R, Rakhi Mohan and Shabna S, all final-year degree students, were expelled from the college.
A commission of inquiry, appointed by the college to probe into the incident that took place on August 8, had found all the seven students guilty of ragging that even continued outside the college campus. On the basis of the inquiry report, the College Council recommended expulsion of the seven students, a statement from the College Principal said here on Monday.
The Peroorkada Police, which had registered a case in this connection, have almost completed the probe. Charges, including rioting and ragging, would be framed against the accused, police sources said. The victim of the incident was a first-year BA Literature student of the college who hails from Panavila. She was ragged by the gang of seven students. As the level of ragging went beyond tolerable limits, the girl refused to concede to the commands of the gang.
Later, while she was riding home on her two-wheeler, four boys of the ‘ragging gang’ chased her in motor bikes and irritated her. As the degree of teasing escalated, the girl lost control of her vehicle and fell on the road near Paruthippara.
Local people who witnessed the incident gathered on the spot and intercepted the boys. They were later handed over to the Peroorkada Police. The three girls later surrendered before the police. All the seven were immediately suspended from the college.
The commission found that the accused had caused mental and physical agony to the girl student by their rash behaviour. The incident had also brought infamy to the college, the commission observed.
link to report : http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEO20070924183516&Page=O&Headline=Mar+Ivanios+expels+7+students&Title=Thiruvananthapuram&Topic=0
Students clash over 'ragging' incident
Students clash over 'ragging' incident
29 Sep 2007, 0050 hrs IST,TNN
HYDERABAD: Clashes broke out between students of Nizam College on Friday following an alleged ragging incident on the campus. Police had to resort to a mild lathicharge and eight students of the college were arrested.
Abids police booked cases under section 70 B of City Police Act and 323 IPC against the students. They were later released on bail.
A group of second year BA students had called for a mass boycott of classes on Thursday demanding suspension of 10 final year students for allegedly ragging first year students.
Following this, final year students retaliated on Friday by storming into the principal's office, demanding that the second year students substantiate the allegations against them.
Both second year and final year students came to blows outside the principal's office around 11 am. Police had to intervene and resorted to lathicharge when the situation went out of control.
Around 20 policemen were deployed on the campus to maintain peace.
Nizam College principal, however, said there was no reported instance of ragging on the campus and the agitation between the students was to settle personal and political scores. "The anti-ragging committee on the campus did not get any complaints of ragging from any student,'' said the principal, Prof S Satyanarayana.
The five-member committee has called representatives of both the groups on Saturday to sort out the issue.
Many of the students of the college felt that the fight was a fallout of the traditional rivalry between the ABVP and SFI students. "There were instances of tension between final and second year students even months after the academic year began. Ragging was brought in as a pretext to settle scores,"a final year student of BA economics said.
link to report : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hyderabad/Students_clash_over_ragging_incident/articleshow/2412949.cms
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
[NewTrackIndia] Ragging mere interaction among students or an abuse?
By Pallavi Sharma
New Delhi
Sep 17: Story of Sanjay pal Singh is no different from various other previous stories of ragging and spoiling mental balance and bright future of budding citizens. Now we don’t feel the news of this MCA student of Lucknow having nervous break-down due to ragging as shocking. Why? More because we have become used to such incidents of harassment of students. And we just let it go. Somewhere we either ignore the things or just tolerate them or give justification of non-activity to our mind saying what we can do if college administration, government and laws are not able to prevent it. But it is serious issue to dwell upon because it paints the negative picture of the world in the raw mind and distorts the personality.
Some we can see justifying the practice itself on baseless grounds. Shocking is that those who suffer due to ragging and survive are the very advocates of this malpractice. Is this the atmosphere, our blooming citizens should get while entering to the college with the dreams of future in their eyes? Why to adopt exploitative measures to expose them to the realities of the world, a justification normally given by the raggers and supporters.
Let’s come to the starting point what is ragging? Ragging meant to break the ice between juniors and seniors, a kind of interaction but in theory only. Practically, Ragging now is considered in international arena a human rights abuse in educational institutions perpetrated by seniors over the juniors. It may involve any abuse physical, verbal and sexual. It takes its horrible appearance in engineering, medical and yes in military colleges too.
Our Supreme Court defines ‘ragging’ ‘as any disorderly conduct by words or act....indulging in rowdy or undisciplined activities which may cause annoyance, hardship or psychological harm or to raise fear or apprehension thereof in a fresher or junior student or asking him to do something which .... has the effect of causing or generating a sense of shame or embarrassment so as to adversely affect the physique or psyche of a fresher or a junior student’.
From psychological perspective two factors provide basis to the concept of ragging. One is that it facilitates the interaction between juniors and seniors and it makes a positive impact on the personality. Fresh incident of Lucknow states all the facts about this heinous practice. What it does to the students who come to build their character and skills for a better future. Repeated incidents of torture either render the students insensitive to the pains of others or break the self-respecting students mentally by creating the atmosphere of fear and apprehension. Ultimately sensitive ones commit suicide or leave the college or hostel premises. Where is the positive effect?
Torturing the fellow students, subjecting them to exploitation or whipping them at will gives the sadistic pleasure which in itself shows a distorted psyche. Where are the roots in the system, society or family upbringing?
Whatever it is but needs to be uprooted from such a place of sanctity as educational institutions. First law, putting curbs on this heinous crime was enacted by Tamil Nadu government. This practice took such vicious turns that Supreme Court had to intervene and order the appointment of a panel to study the remedial measures to deal with this problem. Supreme Court itself made it obligatory for academic institutions to file official FIR with the police in case of complaint of ragging. This would help the formal investigation under criminal justice system.
Recently the committee headed by CBI director, Dr. R K. Raghawan has recommended that ragging should be included as a special section of Indian Penal Code. The committee also considered it a failure to inculcate human values from the schooling stage. Committee also called for the active role of the civil society and media. Here lies the burden.
The committee recommends the exemplary punishment to deter the recurrence of the process. Among other measures any failure on the part of institutional authority or deliberate delay will be considered an act of culpable negligence. Courts should also tackle the ragging cases on the basis of priority. Anti-ragging squads and committees will be constituted in the institutions. Apart from all the measures awareness programmes regarding the threat and consequences of ragging should be launched.
Despite all this what we need is the initiative from the side of the students only to end this unhealthy practice.
[CNN IBN] No arrests in 9-yr-old death by ragging case
New Delhi:
The silence of the house echoes across the blank walls C L Anto pores into the Criminal Referencer.
Consulting criminal files and making notes: this has been Anto's life for the past nine long years, since a management consultant was forced to turn into a lawyer, nine years since their only child, Indu, died due to ragging.
Indu was studying in Class 11 in Mumbai's prestigious Sophia College, where her hostel seniors repeatedly ragged her.
“There was nude dancing and all kinds of vulgarities- injections, drug taking, smoking and all kind of sexual perversions. Yes, she complained before and on her behalf I took up this matter with the authorities twice or thrice. That day I made a mistake. When I complained she was summoned in front of the principal and main accused Melissa and company threatened her. That day she called and said she was ready to leave the college,” said Anto.
That day was August 3, 1998. On August 4, Anto got a call that his daughter had fallen from the third floor of the hostel building and died.
The shock and trauma of losing young Indu destroyed the family. The fact that they lost her to a mindless act of cruelty in her dream college made it worse.
Indu was in Sophia College for just 14days but in just that fortnight she wrote of verbal and mental abuse everyday.
Sophia College had the powerful backing of the Church and soon the case was covered up and made to look like a suicide.
Indu's post mortem confirmed that she had 27 injuries before her death. Her diary mentions the names of two raggers: Melissa D'Silva and Greta Collaso, one a final year BSc student, the other in Class 12, recognized by the High Court as a dying declaration.
Yet, there were no arrests. All Anto managed was to prove in court that his girl was murdered.
“Society has made us orphans. Sophia College has made me the orphan,” said Anto.
[The Sunday Times] Ragging: Suspects get bail
By L.B.Senaratne
Kandy Chief Magistrate told three suspects who were produced in courts on charges of having assaulted a group of seven freshers who were against ragging, that no one was above the law and the law of the country had to be abided by everyone irrespective of whether they were university students or any one else.
The suspects were earlier identified at an identification parade and Kandy magistrate Harsha Setunge said he was releasing them on bail considering their status as students.
[Electric Show] GOODBYE ROYAL FLUSH, HELLO FUN & GAMES
Dunking someone's head in the toilet bowl for ragging? No, orientations today are more 'freshman-friendly'
By Fiona Liaw
September 17, 2007
And that about sums up the change of bearings that has taken place over time - how students who live, work and play in university, particularly in the hostels, are ch
annelling their energy into intense competition more instead of extreme teasing.No tales of having your head held down in the toilet bowl and flushed, or crawling on your knees to serve drinks.
When MrOh Wen Jun, 23, a third-year undergraduate from the National University of Singapore's School of Computing, was asked to recall his experience when it comes to ragging, his first response was to talk about building floats.
Freshmen orientation began last month for universities here, and this period that lasts through September is the season for students entering universities abroad in the UK and US as well, who will face similar inductions.
Traditionally, ragging used to be a fear-inducing word, implying great suffering in store for the freshmen through harassment and torture by seniors on campus.
Now, it is still associated with the rite of initiation for freshmen, but is used loosely to refer to holding inter-faculty and inter-hostel games to build camaraderie.
For Mr Oh, the old definition of ragging is hardly a talking point these days.
He said: 'It has died down. Whatever 'ragging' in that sense is mild. If not, they are more for fun.'
He cited the example of how a senior may take something from a junior's hostel room and the junior will have to try to negotiate to get the item back. Lame? The junior would say it is 'freshman-friendly'.
SENIORS BEING BULLIED
Miss Emily Chia, 22, a second-year nursing student at NUS, said: 'The funny part is, seniors are now the ones being 'bullied'. Like when we play haunted house, one of them was tied up like a mummy and tickled. Or we throw water bombs at them.'
Certainly, there is a big reason for this change - campus policies have become stricter on ragging.
udent conduct, for example, states that the university 'takes a serious view on students who engage in ragging, harassment or any method of initiation which causes bodily danger or mental intimidation/humiliation to other students'.In Nanyang Technological University (NTU), its student affairs office states that it 'will take action against any student found ragging' because it is 'strictly not permissible'.
Of course, ragging was not approved in the past either, but that did not stop students from doing it.
One 58-year-old, who wanted to be known only as Mr Khoo, entered the Faculty of Law in 1968.
He recalled: 'The bulk of orientation was ragging, with activities like briefings and the Freshie Hop (dance) as booby traps to lure freshmen for ragging.
'An example would be the Royal Flush, where a senior would put the freshman's head in a toilet bowl and flush it.'
Of course, revenge was also sweet, with the freshies ragging their seniors on the last day of orientation.
Mr Khoo's most memorable experience?
'The seniors wanted to extend the six-week orientation period because they felt the freshmen were too cocky. There was a huge rally to settle it.'
Banker Matthew Tay, 52, who entered the then-University of Singapore in 1975, said even in the past, mild ragging existed if you were lucky as a junior, 'like just being woken up in the middle of the night'.
'But there were instances of making freshies blow condoms into balloons, and stripping,' he added.
For trader Soon Teck Onn, 39, a former Arts student, he remembered ragging in the late '80s and early '90s as being about seniors treating juniors like servants.
He said he 'rejected' their rag, and got away with being slightly sidelined.
'I wasn't as bonded to the rest. I regret that a little bit,' he said.
Indeed, the aim of orientation, along with ragging, is to get freshmen to fit in quickly, so as not to be anti-social or left out. But taking things to the extremes could hurt or alienate people further.
Or it could be seen as sexual harassment, particularly in games where food is passed through bodily contact between strangers.
DIRTY IDEAS
A 29-year-old Nanyang Technological University alumnus, who wanted to be known only as James, recalled how his hostel mate was doused by a gross mixture of cat food, toothpaste and oil, and how he had to roll about in mud as seniors called out numbers to indicate how many times you had to roll.
'I heard there were also others who were taken to the Nanyang Lake (on campus) and dunked there.'
Other physical 'tests' include having to do as you were told by road markings such as 'strips ahead' or 'hump ahead'.
'You do what the words say when you reach there,' James said.
These days though, it seems getting wet is about the wildest it can get.
Law freshman Yvonne Poon, 19, said: 'During one of the night walks, the seniors asked us questions, and anyone who answered wrongly had water poured on them. It was all in the name of fun.'
Mr Oh, who recalled 'mistakes' in a dance item as the only embarrassment in his freshman year two years ago, suggested why students have disengaged themselves with the old concept of ragging these days:
'It's a generation thing, maybe. Just like how teachers used to be able to cane students in schools, now they can't or don't do it. In the past, too, people were more 'obedient', they took what they got and did not complain. Now, people are more vocal, they voice their objections readily.
'There is also a shift in perepctive and orientation goal, to make freshies feel more comfortable rather than to just let seniors have fun by ragging the juniors.'
Mr Khoo, who was a freshman in 1968, saw the 'good' in the bad old ragging though: 'Sometimes it is through hardship that you can really see the character and nature of a person. This whole process of ragging can also develop it.'
The young could also argue that in place of severe bullying, 'hardship' these days can kick in through the rumble of inter-hostel rivalry and contests, the fight to be the overall champion 'hall of residence', or to get the award of best float.
In NUS, the building of floats for the yearly Rag Day is the dominant event. And students parade their floats and perform dances and back-breaking acrobatic stunts to thank supporters for their donations on Flag Day, which happens a few days before.
There is also a competition to see which faculty or hostel can raise the highest amount.
Mr Oh, who was the co-head of the 'float committee' at last year's Rag and Flag, said that during orientation, they often worked from 9am to midnight every day and will hardly have time to engage in ragging to sabotage the juniors.
'You'd be too tired to do that,' he said.
But at the end of orientation, after all the 'work' is done, the parties and feasts still go on. More bonding may even take place in nightclubs, as in this year's NUS Law Camp, for example.
Mr Manfred Pan, 22, a Singapore Management University undergraduate, said his most memorable camp experiences were usually those when they went to clubs and had a few drinks.
And that, as they say, might make the freshman game of finding out 10things you never knew about that 'senior gentleman' seem much easier.
[Daily Times] College ragging not flagging
ragged.[NDTV.com] Student hospitalised after brutal ragging
Monday, September 17, 2007 (New Delhi)
Fun for some has turned into a tragedy for Sanjay Pal Singh.
[The Tribune, Chandigarh] Ragging: Probe ordered:
Jalandhar
Taking a serious note of the alleged ragging incident at Doaba College, principal Dr R.P. Bhardwaj has constituted an inquiry committee into the matter. The five-member committee will meet students concerned to probe and find out the truth. The principal said the committee had been instructed to submit its report in three days.
[Herald] Govt bids to curb ragging
BY HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, SEPT 13 — In a major decision, the State Cabinet on Thursday approved the Goa Prohibition of Ragging Bill 2007 in a bid to curb ragging within and outside educational institutions.
At a post-Cabinet briefing, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat disclosed that former Pernem MLA Jitendra Deshprabhu introduced the Bill as a Private Member’s Bill in 2006.
“The Bill will be examined,” Kamat said, as indications are that the Bill will be enacted shortly to counter the social evil haunting educational institutions.
The Bill expresses concern for the safety of students against ragging and also proposes stern action against the participants and its abetters.
Herald understands that the Bill proposes punishment in the event of conviction for disciplinary action by the head of the institution.
The punishment includes withholding scholarships, results and debars the guilty from representing and participating in events. It also proposes suspension or expulsion from the institution and hostel.
[Mangalorean.com] Mangalore: 'Ragging worst form of human rights violation'
Mangalore Sept 14: "Students at colleges become victims of two major evils namely ragging and drugs. Of the two ragging is the worst form of violation of human rights. There is a need to root out this evil," said Principal and Sessions Court Judge H M Bharathesh.
He was addressing the gathering at the inaugural programme of III Batch of B Pharma and Law Club of Karavali College on Thursday at the Pharmacy College campus in Vamanjoor.
He said that there is an immense need to educate the children about these evils.
“Raggings though earlier said to be a mere socialising session, in recent years it has taken a violent and cruel face. It is illegal and a punishable crime,” he added and said that considering the serious of the issue, evenApex court has released certain guidelines to prevent ragging in the colleges as per which every college must have a committee in place comprising of faculty and parents to guide the students.
He also said that Pharmacy is an integral part of law and urged the up coming pharmacists to be responsible and sincere in their field.
District Legal Services Authority Member Secretary Shivalinge Gowda said when it comes to law, ignorance or lack of legal knowledge is no excuse. Hence, every student must be imparted sufficient knowledge about the legal aspects that concerns them as students.
South Kanara District Chemists and Druggists Association President Shridhar Kamath were the chief guests of the programme. College Principal Dr R Shabaraya and Karavali Colleges Chairman S Ganesh Rao were present.
IANS
[DNAIndia.com] Ragging menace on rise in Bengal
Sumanta Ray Chaudhuri Friday,
September 14, 2007 03:34 IST
KOLKATA: West Bengal has once again been rocked by a spate of ragging incidents sending shock and fear amongst aspiring engineers and their parents.
In last couple of months eight incidences of ragging have been reported from different engineering colleges of the state and majority of them involved severe physical injuries to students. Last week it was height of it. A first year student of a private engineering college in Bankura district, Sudipto Mondal, was pushed from his hostel's second floor during ragging.
While Sudipto is still fighting for his life with multiple injuries in a nursing home in Bankura, the police is yet to arrest the six absconding senior raggers, against whom FIRs were registered.
Two days back before Sudipto's incident, a fourth year student of Bengal Engineering & Science University (Besu) was severely thrashed up by his own classmates, when he tried to resist them from ragging a junior, first year student. As first, the university authorities tried to hush up the entire incident but later it looked into the matter.
Similarly, last month, a first year student of the same institute of Bankura was forced to walk on balcony railings. Not being able to maintain balance he fell down and sustained severe injuries. No action was taken against the alleged students.
Former dean of Jadavpur University, S Roy said the regional and private engineering colleges should follow the IITs in checking ragging for good. According to him, the IITs have strictly decided that any student found guilty of ragging will be instantly expelled from the institute.
[The Telegraph] Students allege mass ragging
OUR CORRESPONDENT
Behrampore, Sept. 14: Fourteen first-year students, who had had enough of stripping in front of seniors, doing sit-ups and touching their feet, have filed a police complaint against them.
Police raided the Kandi Raj College hostel for eight second and three third year-students last night. They were missing.
“Every night, we were asked to do sit-ups at least a hundred times and touch their feet. We were forced to dance in our underwear. If we disobeyed them, they beat us up with sticks and made us write indecent things about our families,” a first-year student said.
The hostel with 60 students does not have a full-time su- perintendent. Indrajit Das, a non-teaching employee, is in charge. He declined comment.
The college tried to play down the charge. “They were hurt by the seniors’ jokes. It was not ragging,” principal Rashbehari Sinha said.
[Chennai Online] Probe into ragging at govt college
Kumbakonam, Sept 12: A probe has been initiated after some students of the Government Arts and Crafts College here lodged a complaint about ragging, police said.
The complaint was given to Kumbakonam DSP by Nalini and some other students of the college, they said.
Police officials visited the college yesterday to inquire into the alleged incident.
Meanwhile, principal of the college M Balasubramanian said they were keeping a strict vigil to prevent ragging in the college.
He, however, said that the students have directly gone to the police without informing them about the ragging, arousing suspicion. (Agencies)
Friday, September 14, 2007
Concern over High School Hazing
Concern over High School Hazing
Drink-fuelled initiation ceremonies, so-called hazing, for new arrivals to Stockholm’s high-schools have increased rapidly in recent years, Swedish media report.
Police in the capital are now warning that the intensification of the practice risks ending in student deaths.
The Swedish daily ”Metro” reports that the last three weeks have seen between 70 and 80 youths being admitted to hospital after taking part in hazing rituals.
link to report : http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/International/nyhetssidor/artikel.asp?ProgramID=2054&Nyheter=&artikel=1588495
Students may get public caning
Students may get public caning
Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia announced on Monday it is considering re-introducing the previously banned act of public caning in schools as a deterrent to undisciplined students, an official news report said.
Currently, school principals are allowed to cane trouble-making students but only in a private room with another teacher present as a witness, Deputy Education Minister Noh Omar said.
"We need to discuss the matter and take into consideration that public caning was introduced in 1959," Noh was quoted by the Bernama news agency as saying in parliament on Monday.
The government banned public caning in 2004 but allowed school headmasters to cane students in their rooms with a witness.
link to report : http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=nw20070903121907914C857004
Four suspended for ragging
Four suspended for ragging
VIJAYAWADA: Four students of NTR College of Veterinary Science at Gannvaram, who were arrested on charges of ragging, have been suspended from college for one month, according to college associate dean and in-charge principal Dr K Prabhakar.
link to report : http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEA20070906230021&Page=A&Headline=Four+suspended+for+ragging&Title=Southern+News+-+Andhra+Pradesh&Topic=0
Kochi: Trial in ragging case stayed for 3 weeks
Kochi: Trial in ragging case stayed for 3 weeks
Kochi, Sept. 14 (PTI): The Kerala High Court on Thursday stayed for three weeks the trial of the SME Nursing college ragging case, which was to commence on September 15.
The order in this regard was issued by Justice V Ramkumar while considering a writ petition filed by state government against the discharge order of sessions court, Kottayam in favour of the SME College principal, Mariyamma and Director P Muralidharan Nair, eight and seventh accused respectively in the case.
The case relates to the alleged molestation of a girl student in the name of ragging by seniors.
The sessions court had found that offence under prohibition of ragging act cannot be charged against the two accused and had discharged them. Challenging this, the government filed a revision petition.
link to report : http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200709140320.htm
Student injured during ragging
Student injured during ragging
Bankura (WB), Sept. 11 (PTI): A student of an engineering college in this district of West Bengal was seriously injured when he was allegedly pushed from his hostel's second floor during ragging, a senior police official said today.
Sudipto Mondal, a first year student of Bankura Mallabhum Institute of Technology at Bishnupur was pushed by his seniors on Sunday during ragging and fell to the ground, Superintendent of Police, Rajesh Kumar Sinha told PTI here.
A resident of Arambagh in Hooghly district, Mondal has been admitted to a private nursing home and his condition was stated to be serious, police sources said.
Mondal's father has lodged an FIR against six senior students of the institute who are absconding, the SP added.
link to report : http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200709112070.htm
Probe into ragging at Govt college
Probe into ragging at Govt college
Kumbakonam, Sept. 12 (PTI): A probe has been initated after some students of the Government Arts and Crafts here lodged a complaint about ragging, police said.
The complaint was given to Kumbakonam DSP by on Nalini and some other students of the college, they said.
Police officials visited the college yesterday to inquire into the alleged incident.
Meanwhile, the principal of the college M Balasubramanian said they were keeping a strict vigil to prevent ragging in the college.
He, however, said that the students have directly gone to the police without informing them about the ragging, arousing suspicion.
link to report : http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200709121421.htm
Twelve students injured in clash over ragging
Twelve students injured in clash over ragging
Ghaziabad (UP), Sep 8: As many as 12 students of an engineering college in Modinagar were injured in a clash between the two groups over a ragging incident, the police said today.Police used batons to disperse the clashing senior and junior students of K.M. Modi engineering college last evening.The junior students alleged that they were forced to strip by some final year students, but the management did not take any action.However, the police said no complaint was lodged in this regard. The students alleged that police did not enter their complaint under pressure from the college management.
link to report : http://www.saharasamay.com/samayhtml/articles.aspx?newsid=84129
15 MBBS students expelled for ragging
15 MBBS students expelled for ragging
Kanpur: Fifteen second year MBBS students have been expelled from a medical college hostel here after a disciplinary committee indicted them in an incident of ragging in August.
The administration has expelled them on the charge of “misbehaving with first year students on the pretext of getting to know them,” Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Medical College principal Professor S K Katiyar said on Wednesday.
He said the incident was brought to his notice in August and handed over to the disciplinary committee of the college which found them guilty of misbehaviour.
All the expelled students were residing in Hostel No 5, he said adding that the college had already suspended four students on charge of ragging in August.
link to report : http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/13/stories/2007091354160800.htm
Five NRI students 'ragged' at SPA
Five NRI students 'ragged' at SPA
NEW DELHI: Even as the Supreme Court-appointed Raghavan committee has made ragging in higher education institutions a cognisable offence, its ghost seems to be haunting the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA) with a guardian lodging two complaints of freshers being coerced into doing activities against their will by the seniors. Krishna K Jha, local guardian of two NRI students from Bangladesh, claims to have complained to director KT Ravindaran and hostel warden Rajprakash that some first-year students, including his wards and three other NRIs from UAE, Canada and South Africa have been ragged regularly since the start of the session in the hostels on both the ITO and Maharani Bagh campuses. However, the director has refused to acknowledge any kind of written complaint though Rajprakash admitted that Jha had made allegations of ragging. "I had received an anonymous call complaining about this but not received any written complaint," Ravindaran said. When asked to elaborate on his comment, he retorted: "I don't want to talk to you." But Rajaprakash said: "I received a complaint from Jha but we cannot take it seriously unless students themselves come forward. Even the freshers have refused any kind of coercion." In his complaint, Jha alleged that some senior girls "call junior boys and girls to their rooms and rag them all night". Since the classes started on August 1, first-year residents in all three hostels — one for girls at ITO and one each for boys and girls at Maharani Bagh — have been allegedly subjected to ragging in different forms, Jha claims. "In the first two weeks, freshers at ITO hostel were called for introduction in a room at night and were asked to learn the names of their seniors. They were not allowed to leave the room the entire night. seniors warned them of dire consequences if they talked about it," Jha said. The complaints, copies of which are with TOI, further read that some first-year female residents from the ITO hostel were forced to go to Maharani Bagh boy’s hostel and were asked to "smoke, drink and do other activities against their will, and were forced to sign on a white paper that they went to the hostel willingly". It reads on: "One day, students from Maharani Bagh hostel came in front of the women’s hostel and used abusive language..." Talking to Times City, Jha said: "I had informed the hostel warden about these incidents on phone in August but no action was taken. Later, on September 4, I faxed a written complaint to the warden and the director informing them about the incident." Jha lodged a fresh complaint on September 5 after a few more cases of harassment on September 3 and September 4 — details of which were given to TOI — surfaced against the seniors. Jha’s second complaint read: "Students are afraid and shy to tell you about the situation...hope that you will take immediate action to stop ragging." And when TOI approached first-year students at the ITO hostel, many of them refused to speak. One of them, on the condition of anonymity, said: "We were asked to introduce ourselves and were asked to learn the names of the seniors." Another added: "We have to be friends with seniors as they would help us later."
link to report :http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Five_NRI_students_ragged_at_SPA/articleshow/2353944.cms
COLLEGE MANAGEMENT TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR RAGGING, SAYS PUNJAB MEDICAL EDUCATION MINISTER
COLLEGE MANAGEMENT TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR RAGGING, SAYS PUNJAB MEDICAL EDUCATION MINISTER
CHANDIGARH: Tikshan Sud Medical Education and Research Minister Sunday issued direction to all Principals and staff of all Government and Private Medical and dental colleges to effectively ensure ban on ragging of new students in their respective institutes. In a communiqué the Minister said that any laxity shown by management, administration, Principal, faculty or staff in implementing the guidelines would be treated very seriously and would invite stern disciplinary action. He reiterated that management, principal and staff to take effective steps to ensure that no new student becomes victim of this wrong practice of ragging. Calling upon the principals to remain constantly vigilant against this practice and monitor the situation on day to day basis, he said that principal and staff must watch the attitude of new comers and any sign of depression noticed in new student should be probed deeply. Making an impassioned appeal to the senior students to welcome the new students with love instead of ragging them, he said that junior students expect senior students to depict leadership qualities in such situations. Issuing the stern warning to take criminal action against any student indulging in ragging, the Minister also appealed to new students to oppose heinous practice of ragging and immediately report the incident to the Principal and to the higher authorities.
Link to report : http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/5598/38/
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Law student from Raiganj ragged in Bolpur
Radhamadhab SahaRAIGANJ, Sept 5: Despite the government's tall claims, students of educational institutions in the state, it seems, are still not free from physical torture in the name of formal ragging by their seniors.
In one such incident, Sagnik Chakraborty, a first year student of Bolpur Law College in Birbhum and resident of Raiganj, was allegedly subjected to physical assault in the name of ragging by Bijoy Kumar Dey, a third year student of Bengal Institute of Technology, and his associates at a rented house in Bolpur. An injured Sagnik, who returned home today, had to undergo treatment at the Raiganj district hospital. His father, Mr Chandan Chakraborty, a teacher by profession, today lodged a complaint against Bijoy and his friends with the Raiganj police station.
Alleging that his son was subjected to physical assault, Mr Chakraborty demanded strong action against the accused students.
Sagnik, who passed HS examination from Kaliyaganj Parbati Sundari Higher Secondary School this year, took admission in Bolpur Law College. Talking to reporters here today, he said: "At Bolpur, I was living in a rented room at Udayanpally, around 10 km away from my college. Bijoy was also staying in the same house, though in another room. I used to take meal in another house with Bijoy and his associates. They were physically assaulting me in the name of ragging. Last Thursday, they tied up my eyes with handkerchief, placed me on the railing of the three-storyed building and instructed me to walk through the railing. After advancing two steps, I started losing balance and jumped on the right side building. I fell on the roof of another three-storyed building. Thanks God, I did not receive any major injury. However, Bijoy and his friends caught me again and touched my body parts with burning cigarette. As a result, I received burn injuries. I later informed the matter to my father who reached Bolpur the next day and brought me here."
Sagnik's father Mr Chandan Chakraborty said they will bring the matter to the notice of the Union I&B and parliamentary affairs minister, Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, urging him to take action against the accused students.
Speaking to The Statesman over telephone, Dr Subir Roy, the teacher in-charge of Bolpur Law College, said: "The incident was unfortunate. Those who ragged Sagnik are not the students of our college. If we receive any written complaint from the victim, we will contact the BITM authorities over the issue and urge them to take action against the accused students."
The North Dinajpur SP, Mr SB Purnapatra, said they have informed the matter to Birbhum police officials.
Students may get public caning
September 03 2007 at 01:22PM
Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia announced on Monday it is considering re-introducing the previously banned act of public caning in schools as a deterrent to undisciplined students, an official news report said.
Currently, school principals are allowed to cane trouble-making students but only in a private room with another teacher present as a witness, Deputy Education Minister Noh Omar said.
"We need to discuss the matter and take into consideration that public caning was introduced in 1959," Noh was quoted by the Bernama news agency as saying in parliament on Monday.
The government banned public caning in 2004 but allowed school headmasters to cane students in their rooms with a witness.
Noh was responding to calls by teachers and parents for the government to enforce stricter rules to control undisciplined students, especially those found to have a history of violence and bullying.
One local lawmaker recently suggested that public caning would be effective in stopping students from creating serious disciplinary problems as their image would be tarnished in front of other students.
Noh said the government would consider all other options before deciding on whether to reverse the ban on public caning.
"All principals of fully residential schools will be given courses to remind them of the dangers of ragging or 'orientation,'" he said.
"We will also invite the police to give talks to the senior students on the matter before the new school term begins."
Recently, several cases of bullying by older students have been highlighted in the local media with many of the young victims suffering from serious injuries and sometimes even death. - Sapa-DPA
Monday, September 3, 2007
Strictly implement anti-ragging laws says Minister
Strictly implement anti-ragging laws says Minister
Instructions to all Vice-Chancellors
The higher education minister said yesterday the government has instructed Vice- Chancellors of all universities to strictly implement the anti-ragging laws with immediate effect.
Rejecting allegations that the government is going to annul the Anti-ragging Act, Higher Education Minister Prof. Vishwa Warnapala said “I have instructed university authorities to strictly implement the exciting law.”
He said that the law is not implemented and the academic staff should take necessary steps to implement the law in full. “The academic staff has to play a key role in preventing ragging,” the minister said.
He also said that earlier, the ragging season only lasted for a week or two, but currently it lasts at least a year. “We have to change this culture, we need intellectuals from universities,” he added.
With reference to posters and other protest campaigns urging the government to annul the Act, the minister said that the government would not take action to annul the act. “It was put forward by the then Education Minister Richard Pathirana in 1997, and it was approved by Parliament unanimously, so it is an agreement reached by all political parties, we don’t want to annul it,” the minister said.
He said that some interested sections among students are trying to make an issue over this as these sections backed by some political parties are trying to sabotage the students’ education.
He also said that the government is also to consider widening the higher education system of the country and said that there are no plans to privatize the university system.
“We are going to introduce ‘distance mode’ education, in which anyone can obtain a degree through distance learning, which is a world recognized system,” the minister said.
Prof. Warnapala said under the new programme, the government is going to widen the post-graduate system as well.
link to report : http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/09/01/front/08.asp
Chennai students pledge to curb ragging
Chennai students pledge to curb ragging
Chennai: A college in Chennai has set up an anti ragging committee to help freshers and prevent ragging. Says a third year engineering student, Gayathri, "My seniors made me do things like salute a stump which embarrassed me a lot. So, I don't want the same to happen to our juniors."Personal experience prompted Gayathri, a third year engineering student, to join the Anti-Ragging Committee in their college. Gayathri and her friends have now taken an oath not to rag their juniors and interact with them in a friendly manner. Says the Vice-Principal of KCG College, Udupa, "The committee will check the interaction between students and see that it is within limits. We will also spread awareness among them."
Link to report : http://www.ibnlive.com/news/chennai-students-pledge-to-curb-ragging/47734-3.html
GMCH suicide case: Police interrogate senior students
GMCH suicide case: Police interrogate senior students
Chandigarh, August 29: A team of police officers today arrived at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector-32 from Amritsar to investigate the alleged suicide of a student Manjot Singh. The officers recorded statements of 19 senior students who had been expelled from the hostel. They also questioned classmates of Manjot. Manjot committed suicide four days after joining college on August 1. Surprisingly, Medical Superintendent Dr Harsh Mohan said that he was unaware of the visiting officials. This despite the fact that the officials arrived around noon today and had lunch at the hospital. Director Principal Dr HM Swami - in whose office the police team interrogated the students - refused to meet the media or comment on the investigations. It’s too early to say anything now. We will first talk to the students and analyse their statements,” said Sub Inspector Joginder Singh. While the names of the 19 senior students was provided by the college, the team asked to talk to seven first year students whose names had been provided to them by Manjot’s family. “Manjot had given his father a few names. He said that on the first day the seniors kept him till 11 pm and on the second day the ragging went on till 2 am in the night. Initially we remained silent because we didn’t know what to do,” his uncle Sarabjeet said. He also said that a few seniors had talked to him. “They were cooperative in the beginning. But now they are under pressure from the college and don’t take my calls,” said Sarabjeet. “Recording their statements in the presence of the college authorities is also of no use as they will not be allowed to speak the truth,” he said.
Link to report : http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=253616
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