The student died, of Ragging, after allegedly ragged by his seniors in his hostel on the intervening night of November 16-17 at Gujarat Medical Education and Research Society (GMERS) Medical College .

Supreme Court set up a committee headed former CBI Director RK Raghavan while dealing with another case of Ragging and the recommendations of the committee subsequently formalised by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

In 2009, the UGC issued detailed guidelines for universities on anti-ragging. “The Regulations on Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Educational Institutions,” include ragging:

• teasing, treating or handling a fellow student with rudeness;
• causing physical or psychological harm;
• causing or generating a sense of shame;
• academic activity of any other student or a fresher;
• exploiting a fresher or any other student for completing academic tasks assigned to an individual or a group of students;
• financial extortion or forceful expenditure;
• homosexual assaults, stripping, forcing obscene and
• lewd acts, gestures, causing bodily harm.

Also, the education institution has to publish the names and contact numbers of Anti-ragging committee of the university.

If found guilty by the anti-ragging committee, the UGC guidelines require any member of the committee to “proceed to file a First Information Report (FIR), within twenty four hours of receipt of such information or recommendation, with the police and local authorities, under the appropriate penal provisions.

While ragging is not a specific offence, it could penalized under several other provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

294 – Obscene acts and songs

323 – punishment for voluntarily causing hurt

324 – voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon or means

325 – punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt

326 – voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapon

339 – Wrongful Restraint

340 – Wrongful Confinement

341 – Punishment for Wrongful Restraint

342 – Punishment for Wrongful Confinement

506 – Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder

– The National Anti-Ragging Helpline is a 24×7 toll free helpline for students in distress. The students can call at 1800-180-5522

– The students can also email the Anti-Ragging Helpline at helpline@antiragging.in

– In cases of emergencies, students can contact Centre for Youth (the UGC monitoring agency) on its mobile number +91 98180 44577

– The students can also visit the UGC website – ugc.ac.in and antiragging.in for more information regarding ragging.

WAY OUT

The guidelines against Ragging not actually implemented in letter and spirit and observed more in their breach.

Colleges must be dowgrade and acted against if caught shielding the culprits.

There is a need to sanitize our institutions of higher education and eliminate bad elements, regardless of their status or background.

There is a need for a national anti-ragging law that will standardize the definition and the amount of punishment for such actions across the country, and make institutions accountable for such incidents.