College student beaten up by seniors in Ker, alleges ragging

A first year B.Com student of a private college in the district has been hospitalised after he was allegedly beaten up by five seniors in an alleged incident of ragging, police said Friday.

The college authorities, however, claimed that prima facie it did not appear to be a case of ragging and maintained that it was a fallout of some personal issues.

The incident occurred on September 5 outside the college campus at Vagamon and the student had been hospitalised with injuries, police said adding further investigation was on.

The five senior students have been suspended, pending inquiry, college sources said.

Police have registered a case against the suspended students based on the complaint by the junior student, who alleged that he was beaten up as part of ragging.

Though ragging has been banned in academic institutions, schools and colleges, according to a HRD Ministry data cited by its minister Prakash Javedakar in July last the number of complaints of ragging reported in universities and higher educational institutions in the country have doubled in the last three years.

Last month, around 100 students of a leading medical college in Uttar Pradesh were subjected to "inhuman treatment" in the name of ragging, prompting the National Human Rights Commission to issue notices to the HRD Ministry, the state government and the principal of the institution.