21 students suspended over alleged ragging in Kerala medical college

Days after five students of a Polytechnic college in Kerala's Kottayam district were suspended over an incident of ragging that left another student with kidney damage, another instance of alleged ragging has surfaced in the state. 

As many as 21 students of Manjeri Medical College in Kerala's Malappuram district were suspended on Monday, over ragging complaints against them. 

Nearly 40 first-year students of the college complained to the management that they were subjected to ragging by senior students in the college hostel. In their complaint, the students alleged that they were summoned to the seniors' rooms at night and were forced to clean toilets. 

The senior students were suspended by the management, pending enquiry. 

A meeting of the college’s anti-ragging cell is underway, which will determine the future course of action. 

The incident came to light when a teacher caught students dozing off in the classroom during a lecture. When the teacher prodded further, the students revealed that they were being subjected to ragging by senior students. The students then took up the matter with the college management. 

"The college administration has taken the issue seriously and preliminary action was taken against the students. The anti-ragging cell at the college is active in making students aware of the repercussions and curbing the menace," Dr PS Sanjay, the in-charge of the men's hostel was quoted as saying by Deccan Chronicle. 

The incident at the Manjeri Medical College comes less than a week after the incident in Kottayam, where a student suffered kidney damage after being forced to strip nude and perform physical exercises for about six hours, and consume tainted liquor.

Another incident of ragging came to light last week, when a first-year engineering student of CUSAT in Kochi tried to kill himself by consuming poison, alleging that he was ragged by senior students. The 18-year-old student's former teacher had then told The News Minute, that Ashish was heavily traumatised following the incident. Before consuming poison, Ashish named a few senior students who "destroyed his life" on a Facebook post.