More students exposed to universities' sadistic rag culture

"He was stripped naked in public and they kept banging his head on one wall and the other.

- By Kamanthi Wickramasinghe

They have pricked him using a safety pin. Then he was thrown inside a cupboard." The above is not an excerpt of a fictional, sadistic porn movie that was filmed inside a studio, but a real-life incident that happened at the Sabaragamuwa University in Sri Lanka, which allegedly claimed the life of a budding youth.

The subject, Charith Dilshan Dayaratne (23) and his friends reportedly had to endure a brutal ragging experience following the university's New Year celebration. Investigations are underway to determine whether Charith took his life due to the alleged incident of ragging. These incidents indicate that more students are becoming vulnerable to this 'brutal, anti-intellectual culture'.

But whether state universities are willing to bring about a zero tolerance policy on ragging still remains a question.

An aspiring IT expert no more

Charith Dilshan (23) from Ihalagama, Gampola had his primary education at Gampola Buddhist College. After passing his O/Ls he had pursued A/ Ls at the Peradeniya Central College, upon which he was selected to the Technology Faculty of the Sabaragamuwa University. Dilshan had been interested in pursuing a career in the IT field and had even developed his own graphics venture by the name Charith Graphics.

"He designed a sticker with the title 'Charith Graphics and pasted it in his room. He used to design posters for various events and would even show us," said one of Charith's uncles who spoke to the Daily Mirror on conditions of anonymity. "Several days prior to this incident he called me and said that he would do a video of mine and that he would complete it once he returns for the holidays. But he left us," the family member said.