Probe report says Aman Kachru was mercilessly beaten up even after his ear drum was perforated and he pleaded for mercy The report of the magisterial inquiry into the death of Aman Kachru,a first-year MBBS student at Dr Rajindra Prasad Medical College,Tanda,reveals that ragging was an unofficial tradition in the college. The details of the evening when Aman Kachru was ragged are particularly horrific. The 24-page report states: On the night of March 6,four seniors Ajay Verma,Abhinav Verma,Naveen Verma and Mukul Sharma entered the junior boys hostel in an inebriated state around 2 am. The security guard on duty at the entrance,Joginder Singh,let these boys enter without any resistance. All the freshers were summoned to the common room and made to line up with their heads bowed. They were slapped,made to stand and sit in torturous positions and their heads were banged against the wall. The seniors slapped,punched and banged heads of the juniors against the wall,while yelling at the top of their voices and abusing the freshers. Aman suffered a perforation in the ear drum because of the beating and left the common room. But his absence was noticed by Ajay Verma,who called him back. Despite pleading for mercy,Aman was badly thrashed by the seniors,particularly by Ajay Verma. The ragging continued till 4 am in the common room, says the report. Aman Kachru died on March 8 after his condition deteriorated. Earlier in the day,he had also undergone treatment at the ENT OPD and later in the CCU,where he was ultimately shifted. Nearly two hours before his death,he had also made a call to his father to inform him about the ragging,says the report. Going back to the cases of ragging,Additional District Magistrate (ADM),Kangra,who was the inquiry officer,says the first reported incidence of ragging took place in the college on March 23,2001. The then warden,in his report submitted to the college principal,reported that a first-year student,Vishal Chandel,was locked and beaten up. Moreover,seniors tonsured the heads of all hostellers. More complaints of ragging were received in 2002,2003 and 2004. In 2003,a student sent a complaint to the principal,naming a senior for brutally beating a junior under the influence of liquor. The senior kept on beating the boy even after his nose was broken and he was bleeding. The senior just covered the boys nose with a handkerchief and carried on with the beating. The report concludes that the lenient approach of the authorities in dealing with cases of indiscipline culminated in the demise of Aman Kachru.
