Ragging in India

Ragging in India is a damaging form of interaction of the seniors in college or school with the juniors, new entrants or first years. It is similar to but not the same as hazing in the United States, it is not an initiation. It involves insults (simple or suggestive sexual, sarcastic and even physical), running errands for seniors, and many other complex activities. Highly reputed Indian colleges have a history of ragging especially Medical colleges. It has become increasingly unpopular due to several complaints of serious injury to the victims and stringent laws pertaining to ragging. Ragging is now defined as an act that violates or is perceived to violate an individual student's dignity.

Following Supreme Court orders, a National Anti-Ragging Helpline

Historyof ragging
Initially ragging started in the British era in English colleges and universities but it slowly spread to Indian educational institutions. The excuse was to teach the social hierarchy in early career, and also learn other important values in life as if they were mature enough to know anything about values and hierarchy. Many colleges such as AIIMS, Christian Medical College and IIT Delhi and National college of engineering, Tirunelveli have an unpleasant history of ragging, with many of the alumni regarding the ragging period as unbearable and traumatic.

Present State

Practice of familiarising beginners with their seniors has now turned into a potent tool for ill-treating and punishing poor students if they fail to obey their seniors.

Under the pretext of fun, a poor student is often assaulted, sometimes even stripped and intimidated by his seniors and this ritualised torture leaves an indelible impression on his mind. The chilling incident continues to haunt him throughout his life, and he unknowingly develops various psychological disorders.

After experiencing the evil of ragging, a student develops a feeling of revenge for his 'unjustified harassment' and derives pleasure in ragging his juniors on his turn. So the trend goes on and students continue to suffer.

Those who surrender before their seniors are set free from the torment after going through a series of inhuman acts, but those who refuse to follow their diktats are subjected to barbaric and brutal treatment and are forced to urinate on high voltage heaters, take part in naked parades, shave off their moustaches and beards, and stand upside down on their heads etc.

The situation sometimes turns so bad that it compels the ragging victim to commit suicide. A section of students feel that light ragging should be allowed in educational institutions, while some are totally opposed to the idea and demand stricter punishment for those involved in it.

A high-level committee in 2009, which probed the death of Aman Kachroo, revealed that alcohol was the main reason leading to serious form of ragging and violence in the campus.

The custom of canning (Ragging) is indeed poorly-thought out. A report from 2007 highlights 42 instances of physical injury, and reports on ten deaths purportedly the result of ragging

Ragging has reportedly caused at least 30–31 deaths in the last 7 years. In the 2007 session, approximately 7 ragging deaths have been reported. In addition, a number of freshmen were severely traumatised to the extent that they were admitted to mental institutions. Ragging in India commonly involves serious abuses and clear violations of human rights. Often media reports and others unearth that it goes on, in many institutions, in the infamous Abu Ghraib style:

and on innocent victims.

In many colleges, ragging has been strictly banned and is proving to be effective . However, this ban has not been the case elsewhere, as seen by the number of ragging cases still reported by the media. Ragging involves gross violations of basic human rights. The seniors are known to torture juniors and by this those seniors derive some kind of sadistic pleasures.

Though ragging has ruined the lives of many, resistance against it has grown up only recently. Several Indian states have made legislatures banning ragging, and the Supreme Court of India has taken a strong stand to curb ragging. Ragging has been declared a criminal offence.

The Indian civil society has also started to mount resistance, only recently.

However, the Anti-Ragging NGO, Society Against Violence in Education (SAVE) has supported that ragging is also widely and dangerously prevalent in Engineering and other institutions, mainly in the hostels.

Following a Supreme Court Order, a National Anti-Ragging Helpline was created which helps the victims and take action in cases of ragging, by informing the Head of the Institution and the local police authorities of the ragging complaint from the college. The main feature of the helpline is that the complaints can be registered even without disclosing the name by the victim,through email at helpline@antiragging.in, or through phone at 1800-180-5522.

Anti-Ragging Helpline, and anonymous complaints

India's National Anti-Ragging Helpline started working in June 2009 to help students in distress due to ragging. It consists of an email id and a 24-hour toll-free number, where it is not necessary for the student to tell his or her name, although it is advisable that the students register the complaints in their name. Provision for anonymous complaints was considered of utmost important at the time of establishment of the helpline, since the victim after making the complaint remains with or close to the culprits, away from a fully secure environment. Since many ragging deaths, like Aman Kachroo's occurred due to seniors taking a revenge of the complaint made, anonymous complaints were equally allowed at the helpline.

Within 15 minutes of receiving the complaint, it is forwarded to the head of the institution and the local police authorities through phone and email, who take prompt action against the perpetrators of ragging.

The functioning of the helpline is monitored by an independent NGO, at present Aman Movement, which lists all the complaints received and the action taken on them.

There has been a change in the email id of the helpline, from helpline@antiragging.net

The helpline provides a complaint number to each victim, and the victim should inquire about the action taken within 24 to 48 hours.

As per UGC regulations, it is mandatory for a college to register an F.I.R. with police against the culprits if any violence, physical abuse, sexual harassment, confinement etc. takes place with any fresher.

After receiving any such complaint from the helpline, it becomes the duty of the head of the institution to register the F.I.R. with police within 24 hours. In 2013, a police case was registered against the director, dean and registrar of a reputed college in Delhi for, among other charges, not informing the police and registering F.I.R. within 24 hours of receiving the ragging complaint.(failing to inform a public authority, IPC 176).

The database of the Anti-Ragging Helpline indicates that it has been to an extent successful in ensuring a safer environment in colleges from where it registered the complaints. In many a cases though, it forwarded the complaint to the University Grants Commission (UGC) for an action against those colleges which refused to take any action against the culprits

Recent Ragging Incidents in India

College of Engineering and Management, Kolaghat
A first-year student of electronics and instrumentation at Kolaghat engineering college was allegedly assaulted by his seniors outside the college campus while the West Midnapore boy was on his way back home. On 29 August, seniors with their faces covered slashed the boy's arm, neck and back and threatened him with dire consequences if he ever returned to the college. His parents lodged a complaint with the college director Naredra Nath Jana and Kolaghat police on Monday.

This isn't the first time that Subhro Samanta, a bright student from Daspur resident, has met with such fate.

"My son often used to complain of being assaulted and tortured by seniors. We told him that it was a passing phase and urged him to concentrate on his studies," Subhro's father Tapas Samanta said. Jana has ordered a probe into the attack.

Oxford College of Science and Management, Bangalore
A second-year student of Management, Shobhonesh Naskar died due to ragging done by his own roommates. The college is denying the case since it may deteriorate the reputation. C.I D investigation is in progress. According to the father of Mr. Shobhonesh, on 13 February 2012, his roommates threw him down from roof while he was talking to his mother.

Ragging Deaths