Ragging Finds Its Way Again In Jadavpur University

Jadavpur University in Kolkata, West Bengal is again making waves because of ragging and molestation in its campus and hostel. Two students were evicted from the hostel, harassed and beaten up because they protested against the ragging of first year students in the hostel.

Jahangir Hossain, second year economics student and Partha Sarathi Mal, third year electrical engineering student say that they had lodged a complaint against the ragging culture prevalent in hostel from March, as they faced mental torture for standing by a victim of molestation, but no action was taken by the University authority. They say that they were ragged and evicted because they were entertaining complains of students who were being ragged. They had recordings of statements of the students who were ragged and were asked to give them to the other seniors. Their refusal to act according to the dictats of the accused led to them getting beaten up and thrown out of the hostel at 1am on Friday, 3rd September.
It is heard that the accused are consisting of few members of the Main Hostel anti ragging squad itself, and surprisingly the assistant general secretary (AGS) of Faculty of Engineering and Technology Students’ union (FETSU). Students of Jadavpur University have requested him to step down moral ground and the authority also barred him from investigating the case.it is heard that the accused are consisting of few members of the Main Hostel anti ragging squad itself, and surprisingly the assistant general secretary (AGS) of Faculty of Engineering and Technology Students’ union (FETSU) which had been led by Democratic Students’ Front (DSF) .

The two evicted students would not name the seniors who had harassed and evicted them. “We had called the UGC helpline in the night. We were told to file a written complaint. We are doing so. We will also file a police complaint,” Mr Hossain said.

Jadavpur University Vice-Chancellor Suranjan Das, admitted that earlier as well, a similar complaint was received by the JU authorities. “I have asked the dean of students to meet me. Today’s complaint letter will be forwarded to the committees concerned and based on what they report, action will be taken against offenders,” he said.

The university’s dean of students, Dr Rajat Ray, said a probe has been initiated into the complaint. “We have an anti-ragging squad, which is investigating the incident. Action will be taken on the complaint as per the rules and regulations,” he added.
A complain of molestation by 10 male students was filed by a girl in September 2014 saying that they took her into the boys hostel and molested her.Two students were suspended in 2012 as well for ragging a junior. The complain by the junior claimed that they were ragged by the seniors for weeks.

In 2011 a student left the university because he was being ragged and was unable to take it.The phenomenon continues this year as well. Clearly the hostel authorities are doing nothing to prevent it and every year fresher’s have to go through weeks on molestation and abuse. Ragging is a crime and if it is being promoted in this fashion then certain steps have to be taken to ensure the safety of students.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *