Within three and a half months following the tragic death of a first-year undergraduate student at Jadavpur University (JU) hostel, purportedly due to ragging, new allegations emerged on Tuesday, November 28, implicating seniors from the main boys’ hostel. In contrast to the previous incident, this time, the accusation comes from a first-year postgraduate student who did not complete his undergraduate studies at JU, making him a fresher. Today, on November 20, the Arts Faculty Students' Union (AFSU) staged a demonstration outside the Vice-Chancellor’s office, demanding immediate and stringent action against ragging.
"The complaint was filed anonymously with both the college authorities and the University Grants Commission (UGC). The student’s plea is to be relocated from the Main Hostel campus to a different location within the campus," informed JU Research Scholar Afreem Begum, who participated in the protest outside the VC office. Afreen further stated that a deputation has been submitted, and their plan of action will be determined based on the response from the authorities. Students also alleged that the authorities are failing to take action due to political influences from both the Central and State governments.
The student reportedly had been subjected to various forms of mental torture and abuse by seniors in his hostel. Yesterday (November 29) morning, he vacated the main hostel as he was feeling unsafe. In his complaint letter, the student pleaded, “Please take me out of the particular block where I stay now and shift (me) to another hostel on the campus." University sources claim that hostels within the campus are significantly safer than the main hostel, located outside the university campus. The main hostel allegedly houses a group of senior engineering boys, some of whom have graduated, harassing first-year students, and a few were implicated in the ragging-related death that occurred in August.
These allegations surfaced a week after the university barred the entry of six students allegedly involved in the incident leading to the fresher's death in August. Reports suggest the six students were barred indefinitely from entering the campus. However, professors and students argue that this action was merely symbolic and does not reflect any substantive measures taken by the university.
"The university has taken no constructive steps. The Internal Inquiry Committee investigated and submitted evidence against several individuals, but no action has been implemented. The six students who have been barred are in jail custody and cannot come to the university campus, making the punishment irrelevant," stated Prof Partha Pratim Roy, General Secretary of the JU Teachers Association.
"The university was supposed to establish a separate hostel to segregate first-year students from seniors. However, this has not been implemented yet. Now that the freshers of 2023 are once again living with these seniors, they are being subjected to ragging," added Afreen.
Expressing concern over the complaint, Prof Pratim Roy called for speedy investigation by the university authorities and "prompt, effective steps to eliminate the menace of ragging".
Background
The incident of ragging and subsequent death of an undergraduate first-year Bengali student in the same hostel building at Jadavpur University on August 9 this year sent a wave of shock across the university and state.
The fresher had fallen off a second-floor balcony of the JU Main Hostel on August 9 after alleged intensive ragging and died at a private hospital the next morning.
A total of 13 people, including six undergraduate students, have so far been arrested in connection with the incident. The arrested also included postgraduate students and a PhD researcher.
The move to bar the six students from entering the institute was taken almost two months after the recommendation by the anti-ragging committee of the varsity.
All of them are seniors in various undergraduate disciplines and are currently in judicial custody in Presidency Jail
