Ragging endemic on campus, authorities failed to act: JU panel on student’s death

Here is a blow-by-blow account of the incident (according to the committee report) on the August 9 evening, leading to the 17-year-old’s death:
“From a close investigation of the issue, the committee is of the view that the victim was ragged in isolation (away from his batchmates) by a group of seniors and ex-students on the night of 9th August and was severely abused sexually too [as is evidently found him being paraded naked amidst a mob of seniors; and also vehemently protesting against being labelled a gay),” the report states.

“Despite of not getting conclusive evidence of the actual falling incident of victim, there seems to be following possibilities for the fall, which may not be considered as exhaustive –i. A case of abetted incident. A case of homicide,” it added.

“At around 7:30 p.m., victim was taken to room no. 59 of A-2 block along with few other (6-7 in number) ‘freshers’ by a seniors, where the ‘freshers’ were forced to shout highly objectionable, sexist, and abusive lines directed towards the female residents of the adjacent Police Quarters. The victim was initially very reluctant to utter such abusive words, but ultimately succumbed to the pressure exerted by the seniors,” it said.

The victim was initially reluctant to utter the abusive language but was forced to do so several times as an extra punishment, the committee said, adding that he appeared “literally shattered” after the incident and even burst into tears.

“The seniors further intimidated the victim by stating that police will take action against victim for his utterances of such abusive words towards their quarters. At this point victim got very scared, and started crying. Almost simultaneously, he felt a sheer bout of stomach pain and sat down clutching his abdomen. He was then given an antacid tablet by a senior, and then singularly led away by few seniors to another room…” the report read.

The committee claimed that the victim was found sweating profusely and was under severe mental stress during dinner at the dining hall of the hostel at 8.20 pm.

“When enquired of reasons behind his unusual sweating and tensed (tense) look, the victim had reportedly stated that he was under tremendous pressure from his senior room-mates. He had also said that seniors were indulging in heavy drinking in his room, which was very scary for him. Others who had deposited (given statement), also informed of a very strong odour of alcohol prevalent inside and coming out of victim’s room (no. 68 of A-2 block),” the report stated.

“The next session of ragging took place at room no. 104 of A-2 block, between 9.00 pm and 10.45 p.m., where victim was insisted upon (coerced) to put his signature in a complaint letter addressed to the Dean of Student, allegedly drafted by another senior against a day scholar in presence of nearly 12-15 boarders and seniors. Later all boarders were called for a GB (general body) meeting at a playground adjacent to A 1 block but the victim was told to stay in the hostel.”

The victim was apparently singled out for “severe ragging” that was carried out in a systematic and planned manner, and removed from the rest of his batchmates, the committee claimed to have found. It adds, “A few depositors (deponents) reported that they heard a howling noise from the second floor of A-2 block. At past 11.30 pm, one of the depositors (deponents) reported to have heard a loud cry out (for help) by a single person from the second floor of A-2 block. One of the boarders, on hearing the loud cry went sprinting to the 2nd floor corridor of A-2 block, and reported to have seen victim running in a completely naked state, and desperately trying to enter into the toilet of the 2nd floor of A-2 block, and then rushing into room no. 65. Even as victim tried to close the door of room no. 65 from inside, a senior and other seniors pushed open the door, and pulled him out. Thereafter, he was reportedly offered a bottle of water, which he gulped a bit, and then threw the bottle at a senior, all the while standing stark naked in front of many seniors at the 2nd floor well-lit lobby, facing utter humiliation.”

“(The) victim, reportedly again started running desperately in the corridor of 2nd floor A-2 block in a completely naked state in presence of a large mob of around 20 seniors and pass-outs… There was a large mob of seniors present there in both upper and lower staircases, thereby incidentally blocking any escape-route for the hapless victim.”

Forms of ragging according to the probe panel

“Information regarding (the) victim’s subsequent movements, just prior to his fatal fall, and eventual fall, is rather uncertain and vague, as none of the depositors (deponents) gave a clear-cut description of the ‘fall’ incident, which could help in ascertaining the cause and sequence of the mishap. Many have reported to have seen victim run towards the end of the corridor with a senior following him, but thereafter, the depositors (deponents) seem to have lost sight of the ‘final fall’ due to one reason or the other…,” the report further said.

‘Evidence removed, juniors were tutored’

According to the fact-finding report, the hostellers tried to remove evidence and suppress facts after the August 9 incident. The committee found that the place of occurrence of the student’s death was cleaned with water and blood stains were removed.

The senior students tutored their juniors on what would they tell the police and the JU authorities about the sequence of events leading to the teenager’s death, it said. “Immediately after the victim was taken to a nearby hospital (KPC Medical College and Hospital, Jadavpur) in a yellow taxi, followed by the ambulance carrying few students, the main gate of JUMH (JU main hostel) was closed under the instruction of a group of hostellers… during the enquiry it was noted that an instruction was issued on 10th August 2023 in the WhatsApp group named ‘A2-Hostel all 3rd Year’ to close the hostel gate immediately to prevent the media person(s) and police from entering the JUMH.”

“Immediately after the incident, a series of GB meetings (between 12:45am – 9:00 am on August 10) were summoned by senior boarders. In these GB (general body) meetings, the first year students were not called. A general narrative regarding the incident was presented before the hostellers and it was structured (decided) that all the boarders are required to follow the narrative in toto while being interrogated by police, media or University authority…” the report stated.

The Dean of Students and hostel superintendents told the committee that they were abused and intimidated while trying to enforce rules in the hostels.

According to the report, the hostel superintendents claimed to have been abused on different occasions by the boarders and even being taken hostage for the entire night.

“…As per the deposition the hostel supers (superintendents) made in front of the committee .. they claimed that they were under threat of senior students. They were not allowed to go upstairs after 6.00 pm on any day. In case they entered into the hostel or were found to enter the hostel corridor, they were accused of stealing mobile phones and were forced to sign fake confession statements of theft. They were forced to stand for hours in the garden, which is tantamount to ragging. Sometimes students have thrown empty alcohol bottles towards hostel superintendents…” the report said.

“The hostel superintendents of JUMH (JU main hostel) conveyed that they feared for their personal safety when going for inspecting the hostel premises. In the past, while on being such duties, they along with other staff members of JU, were held hostage throughout the night by the boarders, all the while abusing them… They reported that despite of their repeated requests to the JU authorities, none came to their help. Even on reporting of this inhuman treatment by the boarders, no action was taken against the aggressors by the JU authorities. This went on to shatter their confidence of manning of their premises…”

“According to deposition by the Registrar, she had been gheraoed and resisted by politically motivated group of students whenever she tried to inspect the campus, especially in the evening. Then she was advised by the then VC to refrain from this type of vigilance for security reasons.”

‘Problem prevailed for a long time’

On the basis of depositions, the committee concluded that ragging has been prevalent at JU’s main hostel for a long time.

“Usually, such form of ragging is passed of by the senior students under the alibi of ‘intro’, which is supposedly meant for preparing a boarder for the rigors of hostel life. However, this has been found to be just an eye-wash and a pretext to indulge in a well- doctrined system of ragging, generating a considerable amount of fear-psychosis amongst the freshers,” said the committee.

“At JUMH, Blocks B, C, D, and A1 are found to be relatively lesser affected… in the recent past; however, A/2 block has been found to be most notorious for instances of ragging complaints. Even ‘fresher’ boarders of A/1 block were summoned to A/2 block on a regular basis for late-night sessions of ‘intro’ and ragging…”

The committee has questioned the role of the university’s “highest authority”, a section of teachers and students for being somehow complicit in the process. It said though there is zero tolerance to ragging in the JU policy, no effective step was taken to curb ragging by the faculty members’ associations. The committee also claimed to have come across an instance wherein some teachers “diluted” certain anti-ragging initiatives.
The report highlighted an instance wherein the Registrar served a show-cause notice (September 20, 2013) on two students accused of ragging and suspended them (one for two semesters and the other for one).

“Evidently, in the face of such aggressive opposition by the Students’ Union, and lenient persuasion by a representing Faculty, and consequent indifferent attitude of the highest authority in the implementation of suspension orders, realization of the anti-ragging regulations as proposed by UGC seems to be a far-fetched goal,” the report added.