KOTTAYAM: Five third-year students of Government College of Nursing in Kerala’s Kottayam were arrested Wednesday after a group of freshers who had been allegedly subjected to ragging on campus reported acts of cruelty that included being stripped and having dumbbells tied to their private parts.
The arrested students – Samuel Johnson (20), Rahul Raj (22), Jeeva (18), Rijil Jith (20) and Vivek NV (21) – were remanded in judicial custody and sent to the district jail.
The suspects recorded the alleged acts of torture on six freshers, including tying them to beds in their hostel rooms and pouring something on their wounds. Investigators have seized some of these mobile phone recordings for verification, an officer said.
“The victims approached the anti-ragging committee, which probed the complaint before reporting it to us. We recorded statements from some of the victims, based on which the case was registered,” sub-inspector Pradeep Lal V of Gandhinagar police station said.
According to the FIR, the first-year students’ ordeal began last November. The arrested seniors would allegedly threaten them with a knife and extort money for drinking sessions on Sundays, it says.
Acting principal Lini Joseph said the college authorities weren’t aware of it until the victims filed a complaint recently.
“The students accused of ragging and torture were suspended after a probe by senior professors of the college… A report has been submitted to Kerala University of Health Sciences and the district police chief,” she said.
All five have been charged with BNS sections for voluntarily causing hurt using dangerous weapons or harmful means, extortion and criminal intimidation and sections 3 and 4 of the Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1998.
