Karnataka ragging victim's family did not even know they could register complaint says Kerala police

Student ragging case: Kerala police to hand over case to Gulbarga police
Karnataka ragging victim's family did not even know they could register complaint says Kerala police
Karnataka ragging victim's family did not even know they could register complaint says Kerala police
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The ragging of a Kerala student in a nursing college in Karnataka has taken a new turn as the Kerala police is all set to hand over the case to Gulbarga police on Wednesday.

19-year-old Ashwathy, a nursing student hailing from Edappal in Kerala was admitted to Kozhikode medical college after being allegedly ragged by her seniors. According to the victim, she was forced to drink toilet cleaner by a group of seniors at college hostel.

The Kozhikode medical college police filed a suo moto case against five third year students of Al Qamar college of nursing in Gulbaraga in Karnataka on Tuesday.

A police official informed that a team of Kerala police has gone to Gulbarga on Tuesday to hand over the case to the SP.

Officials at Kozhikode medical college police station told The News Minute that the police took the girl’s and her family’s statement on Tuesday, after incident came to light through regional media.

“The girl informed us that a group of five malayali seniors (3rd year students) forced her to drink toilet cleaner, following which she passed out and was taken to hospital. A case has been filed against the accused under section 341, 506(1), section 307 clubbed with 34 of IPC, and section 3 (II), (V), (x), 2(I) of SC-ST act. They have also been booked under Section 4 of Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act,” said the official.

Bangalore Mirror reports that the college authorities claimed that Ashwathy had tried to commit suicide.

“Esther, principal of Al Qamar Nursing College, said: "There has been no incident of ragging. Ashwathy tried to commit suicide in the hostel. We informed the family immediately about her condition on May 10 morning. However, no one turned up. She came back to the hostel and stayed there for four to five days. However, since we were not equipped to take care of her 24 hours, and she needed rest, we decided to send her back home. We sent her along with a friend to her hometown as no one from the family came forward to pick her up. Lakshmi and Athira are actually the ones who took care of her, day and night. There was absolutely no ragging in the college or hostel."

However, police officials informed The News Minute that the accused had themselves taken Ashwathy to a hospital in Gulbarga claiming it to be a case of suicide attempt. “Ashwathy could not speak as her food pipe was severely damaged by the incident,” the police official said.

According to the police, the Dalit family was financially backward and hence were not informed enough to file a police complaint sooner.

“The girl told us that Gulbarga police had come to record her statement at the hospital, but was unable to do so as she could not speak at the time,” he said.

No formal police complaint was registered in Gulbarga post the incident. “We understand that no complaint was registered there. The police went to the hospital after they received information of the alleged ragging case,” the official added.

He further said that the incident took place in the college hostel-Dargah hostel- situated around 20km from the college. 

Ashwathy, a first year BSC nursing student was allegedly ragged by a group of senior students on May 9, following which, she was admitted to a hospital in Gulbarga.

After her condition did not improve, she was then shifted to hospitals in Edappal and Thrissur, before being admitted to Kozhikode medical college on June 2.

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