A Reddit post by a student at the Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore describing the horrific acts of ragging at the institution has prompted an internal investigation. The screenshots of the now-deleted Reddit post are being widely shared on social media. The post detailed how freshers were ragged mercilessly and treated inhumanely by the senior students at CMC.
The student, who is a victim of ragging, in the post said that at Junior Mr Men's Hostel competition held on October 9, freshers were forced to display themselves in their underwear in the presence of the warden, deputy warden, and some doctors who acted as the judges.
The same day, students were allegedly forced to participate in a "walking race" during which they were made to mimic sexual acts with the ground and their batchmates as well. The freshers were made to walk around the hostel in their underwear while water from the fire hydrant was sprayed on them. Visuals of the incident doing the rounds on Twitter show students in just their underwear running away from the water that is being sprayed from the fire hydrant. The video further shows two students rubbing against each other and the caption reads, “seniors ordering juniors to rub against each other,” while other students were seen rubbing their bodies against a puddle of water on the ground.
Trigger warning: Visuals may be disturbing
Video proof of severe ragging in Christian Medical College, Vellore. Kindly share and expose the acts occuring here for society to know the problems in not only this institution but widespread among other medical colleges in various degrees. pic.twitter.com/si6lAGCZh0
— cmcvellorestudent (@studenxperience) November 6, 2022
The Reddit post states that ragging took place in various forms, including "buzzing,” a term used to refer to hitting freshers in the testicles with bottles and hockey sticks, while "tuning" was the practice of pinching nipples until they bled profusely and caused serious injury. Another form of ragging, the post describes as, "Jupiter watch," in which freshers were taken to the top level of the hostel and held upside down by their legs. "Freshers would also be slapped for trivial reasons. Also, it was routine for juniors to be naked before seniors with genitals being covered only by a piece of cardboard," the post read.
Posted on the Indian subreddit. Horrific acts of ragging in CMC Vellore among medical students. Needs complete investigation. #tamilnadupolice #cmcvellore @mkstalin @indiatvnews@aajtak #ragging @ndtv @thewire_in @ZeeNews @mansukhmandviya pic.twitter.com/vMb0gP72Jq
— Dr. Kartik (MD AIIMS) (@KartikChadaar) November 6, 2022
Adding that ragging not just included physical torture but also psychological abuse, the Reddit user wrote that the freshers were being forced to learn seniors’ full names, and their hometowns and were being physically abused if they failed to answer. "Also freshers needed seniors' permission to eat each time they entered the mess in addition to being verbally tortured with harsh comments."
After the Reddit post and videos of the incidents describing the ragging at CMC went viral, an anonymous complaint was filed with the Principal of the institution following which seven senior students were suspended on Tuesday, November 8, as per a report in The Times of India. The report said that the suspension was based on a preliminary inquiry by a committee.