Kerala Nursing College Incident: Junior Student Allegedly Tortured in Ragging Video

 The complaint also stated that senior students regularly extorted money from juniors on Sundays to buy alcohol and frequently assaulted them

PTI, 13.02.25 : Disturbing visuals of the brutal ragging of a junior student at the Government Nursing College here surfaced on Thursday, showing the victim being tied to a cot and his body repeatedly pierced with a compass.

According to footage received by the Gandhinagar police, the victim was stripped half-naked and subjected to horrifying acts, including having dumbbells placed on his private parts after being tied to a cot and having facial cream poured into his mouth.

Kottayam District Police Chief Shahul Hameed said that police are investigating whether more students were subjected to ragging.

"The case has been registered based on a complaint from one student but we will record statements from others to determine if there are more victims," he told reporters here.

Hameed added that the investigation will also examine whether there were any lapses on the part of the college authorities.

The five students arrested on Wednesday in connection with the case are currently in the district jail after being remanded by a court here.

The visuals aired by TV channels showed the junior student--lying on the bed with lotion all over his body and his hands and legs tied with a rope--screaming in pain, unable to move while his body was repeatedly pierced with the compass.

The senior students pierced various parts of his body with the compass, counting aloud, "one, two, three".

As the victim screamed in pain, the accused mocked him, taunting and insulting him by calling him a "sexy body".

The video recorded by third-year students captured this brutal act of ragging, police said.

The abuse took place in the boys' hostel targeting first-year nursing students.

The arrested students have been identified as Samuel Johnson (20), Rahul Raj (22), Jeev (18), Rijil Jith (20), and Vivek (21).

One of the arrested students was an office-bearer of a nursing student organisation, police said.

They were arrested after a case was registered under the Prohibition of Ragging Act, following a complaint that ragging had been ongoing for nearly three months at the nursing institute, which operates under the Government Medical College.

The accused have also been booked under Sections 118(1) (intentionally causing hurt using dangerous weapons or means), 308(2) (punishment for extortion), and 351(1) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, the police said.

The accused students have been suspended, college authorities confirmed.

According to the complaint, the ragging began in November last year.

The complaint also stated that senior students regularly extorted money from juniors on Sundays to buy alcohol and frequently assaulted them.

On November 16, the accused allegedly forced a first-year student to transfer Rs 300 via Google Pay and hand over Rs 500 in cash under threats.

Police revealed that the money was used to purchase alcohol.

Meanwhile, student organisations in the state condemned the incident, describing it as barbaric and shocking.

SFI state secretary P M Arsho stated the organisation's strong stance against anarchic acts such as ragging. SFI is the student outfit of the CPI(M).

"The incident is shocking, and the accused has no links with SFI," he told a television channel.

President of the Congress's student organisation, KSU, Aloshious Xavier, said that student organisations should not shield those involved in such brutalities.

On Thursday, ABVP filed a complaint with the Kerala Governor, the National Human Rights Commission, and the Vice-Chancellor of Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS), demanding an inquiry into the incident.

In a statement, ABVP said that a ragging-free campus remains merely a dream under the LDF government.

The authorities of Kottayam Government Nursing College stated that they had not received any complaints from junior students before February 11.

"We received the complaint on February 11 and promptly initiated further action. Until then, the students had not disclosed the matter to anyone, including teachers and parents," said College acting principal Dr Sulekha A T.

Addressing reporters, she added that an assistant warden is in charge of the hostel and that no prior complaints had been raised.

"We will demand exemplary punishment for the accused to prevent such incidents from recurring. The college will extend full support for the ongoing legal proceedings," she said.