JU Students Forced to Rub Face Against Wall, Crawl Under Beds, Finds Committee Probing Ragging

First-year students at Jadavpur University who lived at the boys’ hostel were allegedly made to rub their faces against the wall and stay atop almirahs indefinitely, found a committee formed by the varsity to investigate incidents of ragging on campus.

The committee was formed after the death of an undergraduate student on August 10, allegedly due to ragging on campus.

“They were forced to strip down to their undergarments, and then do activities like standing atop an almirah, rubbing one’s face against the wall, ‘frog-jumps’ and crawl under the cots,” said the report, which was prepared after hundreds of students living in the hostels were interviewed.

The freshers, who are referred to as ‘bachcha’ (kid), were forced to wash their seniors’ clothes, write assignments for them and run errands, including getting liquor, cigarettes and food from nearby markets at late hours, it claimed.

The freshers were also forced to hurl expletives at female residents of the adjacent police quarters, and the punishment for refusal would include physical spanking, it added.

The first-year student had died after falling from the balcony of the boys’ hostel. His family alleged that he was a victim of ragging.

The report claimed that what happened on that evening was not merely an isolated incident of ragging, but rather a regular practice.

“The spot of the accident was washed by a group of boarders with water, following the instruction of one of the seniors after the victim was rushed to the hospital in a yellow taxi at around midnight of August 9,” it said.

“Information regarding the subsequent movements, just prior to his fatal fall, is rather uncertain and vague, as none of the witnesses gave a clear-cut description of the incident, which could help in ascertaining the cause and sequence of the mishap,” it added.

The committee alleged that the victim was singled out for severe pre-planned ragging, which included possible sexual abuse.

Thirteen people, all former or current students, were arrested in connection with the case.