RAGGING MENACE

Three IIT-M students expelled from hostel for ‘misbehaving’ with juniors

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: Three senior IIT (Madras) have been expelled from the hostel for a year for allegedly harassing juniors who joined the institution this academic year. “The students, all residents of the Alaknanda Hostel block, were identified as involved in misbehaviour with junior students. They were expelled last week,’’ a faculty member said on Monday.

Officially, authorities have chosen not to describe the incident as “ragging’’. They said the students had “misbehaved’’ with juniors, a subtle distinction made to spare them of a more severe punishment.

All three students were on August 18 directed to immediately vacate the hostel and find accommodation outside the campus. “The expelled students have been prohibited from visiting the hostel zone including dining halls during the period of expulsion. Also no other student including hostellers should entertain them in the hostel premises. Those found violating the order would also face disciplinary action,’’ the faculty member said. Besides, the expelled students stand disqualified from contesting for any positions in the students’ council and other bodies.

Meanwhile, to curb instances of ragging, the office of the IIT Madras dean (students) has issued a circular imposing a fresh set of restrictions regarding interaction between juniors and seniors. The notice has specifically warned senior students against summoning freshers to their hostel rooms. “All interactions with juniors can happen only in the common room in the presence of wardens, hostel council members or guidance and counselling unit coordinators during the time of roll call between 8.30 pm and 10.30 pm,’’ the circular said.

Authorities have warned of disciplinary action against senior students who defied the restrictions “even without

a complaint from freshers.” The dean has also advised first year students not to go to the rooms of senior students after the roll call at night.

C H Ravi Kiran, a students’ representative for hostel affairs, welcomed the restrictions. “Such measures help in curbing ragging. Restricting senior students from talking to freshers only in common areas and not inside rooms will serve as a deterrent as they know they are being watched. Such a move also induces confidence in the minds of juniors and they can interact with seniors freely,’’ he said.

Seniors thrash disabled student after he resisted stripping in Kerala school

Thiruvananthapuram: A disabled student of a polytechnic school in Kerala’s Thrissur district was cruelly beaten by his seniors when he opposed their attempts to strip him. Police on Monday arrested seven students after Nandkishore, who is hearing and speech impaired, revealed that he was ragged in his hostel. The incident came to light on Saturday when Nandkishore’s mother visited him in the hostel of Sreerama Polytechnic in Tripayar. Police, who made the arrests based on his mother’s complaint, said two members of CPM’s student outfit SFI are among those arrested. Nandkishore, a computer engineering diploma student, joined the school on August 19 under the quota for the disabled. The incident happened the next day. According to hismother’s complaint, a group of 10 students came to his room in the night and tried to strip him. They took off his shirt and dhoti, but he resisted when they tried to forcibly remove his underwear. He was then thrashed for resisting. The accused students were suspended after a preliminary inquiry. TNN