The Kottayam police on Thursday said five third-year students of a state-run nursing college have been booked for allegedly ragging their juniors at the boys’ hostel and subjecting them to extreme torture.
Kottayam district police chief Shahul Hameed A said it will be investigated whether there are more victims in the incident at the Government College of Nursing in Kottayam.
Addressing a press conference in Kottayam, he said at present a case has been registered against the accused based on the complaint filed by one student who was subjected to brutal ragging. Statements from more students will be recorded to find out whether there are more victims in the ragging incident at the nursing college in Kottayam.
“As of now, a case has been registered based on the complaint of only one student regarding the ragging incident at the Government Nursing College. The investigation would look into whether there are more victims. Statements would be taken from more students,” the district police chief said.
He said lapses from the part of the college authorities and warden of the men’s hostel in preventing the crime will be probed. He added that provisions in the UGC Act and K N Raghavan Committee report on ragging will be studied in detail as part of the probe.
“Currently, a case has been registered against the accused under the Anti-Ragging Act, for assault and causing injury, and extortion by threatening. More charges will be filed if more information is obtained during the subsequent investigation,” the district police chief said
The Police arrested five third-year students of Government College of Nursing in Kottayam on a complaint of brutal ragging filed by a first year student . They have been arrested for allegedly assaulting and ragging a group of first-year students and extorting money from them at the Government Nursing College in Kottayam district of Kerala.
The arrested students are ,Samuel Johnson, 20, of Valakom, Kottayam; Rahul Raj, 22, of Malappuram; Jeeva, 18, of Wayanad; Rijil Jith, 20, of Malappuram; and Vivek NV, 21, of Koruthode, Kottayam. They were remanded in judicial custody and sent to the district jail.The accused have been booked under sections 118 (voluntarily causing hurt), 308 (extortion) and 351 (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and relevant provisions of the Prohibition of Ragging Act, 2011.
Police said six first-year students were subjected to cruel ragging, which included stripping them naked and hanging dumbbells on their private parts. The accused allegedly used a geometry divider to inflict wounds on the victims’ bodies after tying them to cots in their hostel rooms and poured lotion on these wounds.
The complaint said the accused also used to rub cream on their mouths and other body parts. They reportedly threatened the victims with a knife and extorted money from them. The senior students used to collect money from juniors for drinking on Sundays, it said.
Some of these cruel acts were also recorded on mobile phones, and police have seized these visuals from the accused. The arrests were made by a team led by Gandhinagar station house officer T Sreejith.
According to the complaints filed by a first-year student, they were stripped naked by the accused in their hostel rooms and subjected to extreme brutality. They also alleged that they were forced to stand naked and subjected to severe physical abuse using dumbbells, including tying them to their private parts.
The accused students were suspended from the college after a probe by senior professors of the college, a report on the incident has been submitted to Kerala University of Health Sciences and district police chief, the college principal said
Meanwhile, shocking footage of ragging at the Kottayam Government Nursing College has emerged. Footage of a student who complained of being tied up and tortured in the college hostel has emerged. The footage shows him being stabbed with a compass, lotion poured on the wound and injuries to his private parts. The footage shows senior students laughing and enjoying themselves while brutally harassing the student. These are the footage captured by the senior students themselves during the ragging.