Weeks after a Kerala school student allegedly died by suicide due to brutal ragging, yet another shocking instance of ragging has come to light in the state.
Five third-year students of Government Nursing College in Kottayam have been arrested for allegedly ragging first-year students. Post their arrest, Samuel and Vivek from Kottayam, Jeeva from Wayanad, Rijil Jith and Rahul Raj from Malappuram have been suspended from the college, according to Manorama Online.
“Case has been registered against the five student under sections 3 and 4 of the Anti-Ragging Act, and BNS sections, including 308 (extortion),” said T. Sreejith, Station House Officer, Gandhinagar Police Station, to THE WEEK. The five are set to be produced in court.
Three first-year male students, all hostel inmates, filed the complaint over four instances of physical torture, said Sreejith, who is heading the investigation. Of the 30 students in the batch, 26 were girls. The three have alleged that the ragging had been going on since November last year, and added that they were stripped and dumbbells hung from their private parts.
They also accused the five of inflicting injuries upon them using compasses and then applying cream on their wounds, and on their faces, heads, and mouths.
The senior students had, allegedly, filmed their acts on their mobile phones.
The senior students also regularly extorted money from juniors, they said, to buy alcohol, and would assault them if they did not pay up.
Unable to bear the torture, the three students finally lodged the complaint with the Kottayam Gandhinagar police.
