On August 9, minutes before the first-year Bengali honours student at Jadavpur University, Swapnodeep Kundu fell from the second floor and died, his fellow hostel mates saw him running across the corridor without any clothes. Kundu was trying to enter the toilet to take cover but could not make it. He then entered into a room from where a third-year engineering student dragged him out. Kundu was reportedly made to stand without any clothes while the seniors ragged him.
The shocking revelations were made in a report submitted by the Jadavpur University’s internal probe panel. The humiliation and mental stress that the 17-year-old victim had to face was unimaginable. As per the report, the ragging started at 7:30 PM and continued till 11:40 PM. The corridor scene took place between 11:30 PM and 11:45 PM, and several students were eyewitnesses.
Between 11:00 PM and 11:45 PM, he was seen being held back by 4th-year engineering student Satyabrata Roy and other seniors. Everyone else, including freshers, was attending an all-hostelers general body meeting. At around 11:30 PM, one of the boarders heard a cry for help. The report noted, “A fresher was seen running completely naked, desperately trying to enter the toilet… and then rushing to room no 65.” However, when he tried to close the door, 3rd year engineering student Md Arif and others pulled him out.
The report added, “Thereafter, he was reportedly offered a bottle of water, which he gulped a bit, and then threw the bottle at Md Arif, all the while standing stark naked in front of seniors… facing utter humiliation.”
At around 7:40 PM, he was taken to room 59 with other freshers. He was forced to shout “highly objectionable, sexist and abusive lines” to the female residents of the adjacent police quarters by the ex-student Sourav Choudhury and four others. Chowdhury further scared him with police action.
At around 8:20 PM, he was seen sweating profusely during dinner. He reportedly said that he was under pressure from the senior hostel mates, and the seniors were indulging in heavy drinking in his room.
Between 9 PM and 10:45 PM, he was taken to room 104 for another round of ragging. He was reportedly forced to sign a complaint letter addressed to the dean of students. As per the panel’s report, he was ragged in isolation in a well-thought-out act of cruelty. The panel did not find any conclusive evidence of the incident that led to his fall.
Death of a student at the Jadavpur University
On 9th August, Swapnodeep Kundu, a Bachelor of Arts in Bengali student from Hanskhali in Nadia district, fell off the second floor of the hostel building at midnight. Swapnodeep was in room number 68 on the second floor of the A-2 block of Jadavpur University Main Hostel.
As students arrived at the scene after hearing a loud noise, they discovered Swapnodeep lying in a pool of blood. Swapnodeep was transferred to KPC Medical College for treatment, where he died on Thursday at 4:30 AM.
Ramprasad Kundu, the deceased’s father, filed a complaint saying that some of the hostel residents were responsible for his son’s murder. Following the complaint, investigations began and several arrests were made.
13 identified accused arrested
Sourabh Chowdhury, a 2022 graduate of the mathematics department, is the prime suspect, according to officials. On August 11, Chowdhury, who was living in the hostel illegally, was the first person arrested.
The others detained include Deepsekhar Dutta, a second-year Economics student; Manotosh Ghosh, a second-year Sociology student; Md. Arif, a third-year Civil Engineering student; Md. Asif Azmal, a fourth-year Electrical Engineering student; Ankan Sardar, a third-year Civil Engineering student; Satyabrata Rai, a fourth-year Computer Science student; former students Saptak Kamilya, Asit Sardar, Suman Naskar, Sk Nasim Akhtar, and Himanshu Karmakar.
“Nasim Akhtar and Monotosh shared Room No. 108 on the third floor, while Satyabrata Rai lived in Room No. 110 (third floor), and Arif in Room No. 74 (second floor). There was a dedicated room for these former students where they used to call freshers to introduce themselves,” the Police said.
Junior residents meanwhile informed the police that there was no restriction on entry of the former students to the University.
