Seven Suspended for Ragging 1st Yr Student

The First-Year Biotechnology Student Who Was the Ragging Victim, Said He Was Tied Up and Assaulted Inside a Room by SFI Members

- Vishnu Varma

KOCHI: Seven students of a government college in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala were suspended on Tuesday for ragging a first-year student by brutally assaulting him.

This is the third incident of assault in the name of ragging at an educational institute in the state in recent weeks.

The latest instance was reported at the Government College Kariavattom in the state capital on February 11 based on the complaint of a first-year student who alleged that he was tortured by senior students inside the unit room of the SFI, the student wing of the CPI(M), the lead of the LDF alliance currently in power in the state.

Bins Jose, a first-year biotechnology student who was the victim of ragging, said he was tied up and assaulted inside the room by SFI members.

"My friend Abhishek and I were walking through the campus when the senior students stopped us. While my friend managed to run away, the seniors dragged me to the SFI unit room. There, they removed my belt and hit me in the face. They made me kneel down and used a bamboo pole to hit my head," he said.