Ragging Horror: Role of Kerala Nursing College Authorities Being Probed

KOTTAYAM:
Kottayam SP Shahul Hameed on Thursday said the detailed probe has begun into the ragging incident in which five third-year students of the state-run Nursing College in Kottayam were arrested.

“It was on February 11 that we received the complaint, and the next day, the arrests were recorded. We are now probing the authorities’ role if they had any idea of what was happening,” said Hameed.

On Thursday, the visuals of the brutal assault on innocent first-year students that came out on the Malayalam TV channels sent shockwaves.

In the visuals, senior students could be seen laughing and making lewd comments when the victim was tied to a bed and left naked.

“We have confiscated the mobile phones of the arrested students. We will now find out from whose mobile phone the pictures were shared,” said Hameed, adding that all the students have been booked under the Anti-Ragging Act.

“As of now, we have got only one complaint and we will look into if there are other complaints too,” said Hameed.

On Wednesday, third-year students Rahul Raj, NS Jeeva, N. P. Vivek, Rigil Jeeth and Samuel Johnson were arrested and later sent to judicial custody.

P. M. Arsho, the Students Federation of India’s Kerala unit President, said what happened is a cruel act and they do not support or protect students who engage in ragging.

The arrest was made after a first-year student complained against the accused claiming brutal torture.

The complainant said they were asked to stand naked, their pictures were taken, and the senior students drew marks on their bodies using sharp objects.

The senior students also used to collect money from freshers to buy liquor.

As the “torture” kept on increasing, the first-year students decided to register a complaint.

What raised eyebrows was all this happened in the hostel room, near the warden’s accommodation. Questions are being asked about what was the warden doing as ragging has been going on for several weeks.

Incidentally, this case has come at a time when on February 6, a division bench of the Kerala High Court, while staying the order of the single judge which allowed the re-admission of 18 students at the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Mannuthy who were implicated as accused in the suicide of junior student J. S. Sidharthan.

The division bench on that day pointed out that “students indulging in ragging are worse than those indulging in vandalism”.

Sidharthan’s body was found in the hostel toilet on February 18, 2024, and it was alleged that he committed suicide.

On Thursday, Sidharathan’s mother, Sheeba told the media that hearing the cries of the nursing students on the TV channels, made her think how much her son would have suffered.