Jadavpur University Student Was Paraded Naked, Ran Across Hostel to Evade Ragging: Probe

The first-year undergraduate student of Jadavpur University, who died after falling from a second-floor balcony earlier this month, allegedly due to bullying, was stripped and paraded naked in the boys’ hostel, a report citing a Kolkata Police investigation stated on Thursday.

The 17-year-old student of Bengali language undergraduate course was allegedly subjected to ragging and sexual abuse before he fell from the second floor balcony of the boys hostel on August 9 night and died on August 10 morning.

While the police have made 13 arrests in the case so far, which includes both former and current students of the university, newly acquired information by the Kolkata Police has unveiled details about the bullying incident that transpired within the campus boys’ hostel.

The probe has revealed that the teen was paraded naked and subjected to more than an hour of bullying, during which he desperately moved from one room to another in an attempt to escape, according to an NDTV report.

According to police sources, they have conducted interrogations of both hostel inmates and staff members.

Throughout this incident, the student was also targeted with homophobic slurs, according to the report.

Law enforcement officials have indicated that there is evidence against a minimum of 12 out of the 13 individuals who have been arrested thus far. Additionally, they have stated that the police are contemplating the possibility of invoking the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The report follows days after the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC) found that a hostel superintendent of Jadavpur University too was “tortured for an entire night” by boarders during a surprise visit two years ago. The details emerged after the superintendent told the rights body why he did not go to the hostel on the fateful August 9 night even after receiving information that some “trouble” was going on there.

The WBHRC team additionally discovered that the hostel was managed by senior and former students of the university who frequently remained in their rooms even after finishing their studies and securing jobs.

The incident has sparked outrage with political parties holding demonstrations and debates on student welfare and provisions to protect students from bullying incidents.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in a public programme said that the victim was “ragged and tortured” by the “Marxists and Leftists”, who have created an “environment of terror”. The boy was wearing an amulet, but he was forced to take that off. These people [Leftists and Marxists] apparently told him that ‘this is a red fort’.”

“These people consider the university to be a place they own. They don’t allow police on the premises. They don’t allow CCTV cameras to be installed. They create an environment of terror in a prestigious institution like the Jadavpur University,” she said.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, a bench headed by Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court TS Sivagnanam, during a hearing of a PIL seeking measures to ensure proper educational atmosphere in the prestigious institute, said it is confident that the situation in the university will improve.

The bench, also comprising Justice Hiranmay Bhattarcharyya, instructed the university authorities to present a compilation encompassing the Jadavpur University Act of 1981, alongside various ordinances, regulations, and rules formulated by the university for matters of student welfare, the governance of student hostels, and related subjects during the next hearing.

The court further outlined that while the police would be responsible for maintaining normalcy on the roads outside the campus, the university authorities should devise a plan to uphold an appropriate educational atmosphere within the campus premises.

“We need to be proud as an alumnus after having graduated from the university. When they call you after 15 years for an alumni meet, you should be proud with pleasant memories to return to the university; not with horrific memories,” the Chief Justice said.

(With PTI inputs)