Jadavpur University ragging death: Expulsion recommended for four students

NEW DELHI: The anti-ragging committee of Jadavpur University has recommended expulsion for four senior students who were allegedly involved in the ragging of a freshman leading to his death in August last year, an official said on Saturday. The panel also recommended rustication of five other accused students for four semesters. The official told PTI that the committee recommended permanent expulsion from the men's main hostel for all nine who were accused of being involved in the ragging and sexual misconduct of an undergraduate fresher who died hours after falling from the second-floor balcony of the men's hostel.

The four, who were recommended by the panel for expulsion from the university, were students of civil engineering, economics and sociology departments. They are currently in police custody. The four who are in police custody could not be interrogated separately, but members of the anti-ragging committee found clinching evidence about their direct involvement in ragging the Bengali Honours student hailing from Nadia district, the official said.

Five students rusticated

The five other students, belonging to the science and engineering departments, were found to be involved in a conspiracy to rag the student, and rusticated for four semesters, the committee said in its report submitted to the varsity. While the entry of the four accused, who had been arrested after the incident, had already been barred from entering the university campus, the EC was mulling similar steps for the five others, the official said.

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Committee report

The report of the committee was submitted to the Executive Council, the highest decision-making body of the state-run university, on Friday. The undergraduate Bengali honours student, hailing from Bagula in Nadia district, was found in a severely injured condition on midnight of August 9, hours after being ragged and allegedly sexually abused by a section of the boarders of the hostel. He succumbed to his injuries at a hospital on August 10 morning.

The incident triggered an uproar as several political parties, organisations and student bodies demonstrated near the university for over a week. The police also arrested four boarders. The varsity authorities afterwards earmarked separate blocks for freshers and old students of both UG and PG levels and installed CCTV along strategic entry points of the university campus and hostel.