A shocking case of ragging has come to light in a medical college in Dungarpur, Rajasthan. A first-year MBBS student had to undergo dialysis four times after allegedly being brutally ragged by some senior students last month, which caused an infection in his kidney, police said. After the anti-ragging committee found the allegations against senior students to be true, the college suspended the students and the college principal lodged an FIR against seven students.
It is alleged that the seniors summoned over 50 first-year students to a hill where they were forced to do over 300 sit-ups in sweltering heat on 15th May. The temperature had reached 48° C on that day. As a result, one student’s health deteriorated, and he was rushed to a hospital in Dungarpur. But there was no improvement in his health, after which his family took him to a private hospital in Gujarat. The doctors there revealed that his kidney and liver suffered damage, causing kidney infection.
4-5 other students also needed treatment after the brutal ragging, but they recovered after primary medical care.
According to the SHO of Dungarpur Sadar police station, Girdhari Singh, seven second-year students made the victim do more than 300 sit-ups at a place near the college on 15th May. This exerted severe pressure on his kidney, leading to a malfunction and an infection, he said.
The Police officer added that the victim was hospitalised in Ahmedabad for a week during which dialysis was done four times. As per the Police, the student is now stable and he rejoined college in June. The student had enrolled in the college in September of last year.
The SHO stated that the college principal lodged an FIR against seven accused students on Tuesday (25th June) after they were found guilty in an inquiry by the anti-ragging committee of the institute.
The police officer further stated, “He had faced ragging earlier too but did not complain. The latest incident came to light after the college authority received a complaint through the online portal on June 20 following which an inquiry was conducted.”
An FIR was filed against seven students. They have been booked under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 149 (offence committed in prosecution of common object), 341 (wrongful restraint), and 352 ( assault or criminal force otherwise than on grave provocation). The matter is being investigated, the SHO said.
Speaking with ETV Bharat, the father of the victim claimed that along with his son, there were more than 50 other first-year students, who were ragged on 15th May. He claimed, “As many as 40 second-year students harassed the freshers. They were tortured so badly that one had to be hospitalised.”
He also said that his son’s muscle snapped as a result of intense physical exertion, which caused kidney and liver infections. He said that his son was shifted to the hospital after calling an ambulance via 108 service, and later the student was admitted to Zydus hospital in Ahmedabad.
A first-year student named Harshit Khanna also confirmed that students of his class were ragged by the senior students. He said that 3-4 students suffered deterioration of health as a result, and one of them had to be hospitalised.
A Deccan Herald report identified the seven students as Devendra Meena, Ankit Yadav, Ravindra Kulriya, Surjit Dabriya, Vishwavendra Dhayal, Siddharath Parihar, and Aman Ragera. Meanwhile, there is ambiguity about the identity of the victim. While news agency PTI has not revealed the identity of the victim or the accused students, some media reports claimed that the victim’s name is Pratham Vyas, while others identify him as Vikas.
Meanwhile, a separate incident of ragging emerged from the Bordumsa sub-division in Arunachal Pradesh’s Changlang district. The incident occured at a boarding school on 25th June at around 2 PM. As per reports, around two dozen class 8 students were injured following an attack by Class 11 students at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Bordumsa. The boarding school has around 530 students and 18 teachers. Following the incident, the school’s principal, Rajiv Ranjan, stated that a disciplinary committee met promptly and decided to suspend five students involved in the ragging.