Another ragging incident surfaces in Kerala college; student accuses seniors of 'brutal assault'
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 19 (PTI): A student of a government college here has made allegations of brutal ragging, claiming that he was targeted by senior students.
Bins Jose, a first-year biotechnology student at Karyavattom Government College, alleged on Tuesday that he was assaulted, harassed, and threatened by a group of seven senior students on February 11 on the campus.
Sources said all the seven accused students were suspended till the completion of the investigation based on the findings of the college's internal anti-ragging cell.
The shocking incident came to light in the wake of widespread public outcry in Kerala over the brutal physical assault on a junior nursing student at the Government Nursing College in Kottayam. Jose said he had lodged a complaint with the police and the college authorities on the day of the assault itself.
"The incident happened when my friend Abhishek and I were walking through the campus. Then a group of seniors stopped us and started beating me. My friend managed to run away from there and went to inform the principal," he told the media here on Tuesday. The victim student accused the seniors of beating him with a bamboo pole and also using a belt.
"I was then taken to the unit room and locked up there. My shirt was removed, and they made me kneel. When I asked for water to drink, one of the senior students spat into a half glass of water and gave it," Jose recalled the harrowing experience on the day. He also alleged that the senior students threatened him with dire consequences if he told anyone about the incident.
They also forced him to file a complaint against his friend, saying it was he who had beaten him up.
Kazhakoottam Police said they had already registered a case into the incident on February 11 based on various sections of the BNS including rioting, wrongful confinement, and restriction, and so on.
"As per the provisions of the Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act 1998, we submitted a request to the unit head of the college (Principal) to submit us a report after carrying out an inquiry whether any ragging had happened in the institution as stated in the complaint," a police officer said.
The principal submitted a report in this regard on Monday confirming that the issues mentioned in the student's complaint are correct. "As soon as we received the report, we added the ragging sections also in the case," he said. A report regarding the incident would be submitted to the court soon, and further actions would be followed, the official added.
Meanwhile, the Congress-led UDF opposition on Tuesday strongly condemned the ragging incident in the government college in Karyavattom and alleged that activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI), the students wing of the ruling CPI(M), were behind the act.
"The manner in which the SFI activists behaved to the first year student was just horrifying to hear," UDF convenor MM Hassan said. He accused the police of being initially reluctant to impose ragging charges based on the victim's complaint.
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Will vacate one of two assembly seats won in 10 days: BJP''s Suvendu
Kolkata (PTI): BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur and secured Nandigram for three times in a row in the recent assembly polls, said on Wednesday that he would vacate one of the two constituencies within 10 days.
Adhikari also asserted that the party's central leadership would decide which constituency he would retain.
"I will vacate one seat within 10 days. The party will decide which one I retain. I will not forget my responsibility towards the people of Bhabanipur and Nandigram," he said.
Adhikari on Monday defeated Banerjee in Bhabanipur by over 15,000 votes, puncturing what was long seen as her safest political refuge and delivering a decisive psychological blow to the TMC, amid a sweeping BJP surge across West Bengal.
Addressing party workers and supporters in Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district, the BJP leader appealed to them not to take out victory processions immediately and instead maintain peace.
"Do not take out victory rallies now. Maintain peace and discipline. Celebrate after May 9, after taking permission," he told party workers.
State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Wednesday announced that the oath-taking ceremony of the new government will be held on May 9 at Brigade Parade Ground.
Referring to alleged attacks on BJP workers during the TMC regime, Adhikari said he would not forget the “atrocities" faced by them and assured them of taking appropriate action against perpetrators through legal processes.
"I was part of the 2011 ‘poribartan’ (change), and now I am part of the real change. I offer my gratitude to the people of Nandigram," Adhikari said.
He was referring to the TMC's victory in 2011 when the Mamata Banerjee party dismantled the 34-year Left Front regime in the state.
Adhikari offered prayers at a Hanuman statue in Nandigram and remembered the BJP workers, who had died in political violence.
"We will work in such a way that the BJP government in Bengal stays for 100 years," he said, expressing hope that the BJP’s vote share in the state would rise from the current 46 per cent to 60 per cent in future elections.
The BJP leader also assured residents of Nandigram of improved drinking water supply and better hospital and education infrastructure.
