Ragging caused this ! ! !
Photo & News : BBC News
What is Ragging ?
There have been several definitions of "ragging", used by governments / official bodies. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has given a practical and very useful definition of ragging which includes several acts, that have been adopted by the raggers throughout the ages of evolution of ragging.
Simply speaking, ragging is an unlawful way by which some senior students interact with the newcomers in their educational institution. In efforts to establish their own "supremacy" and/or to get sadistic, savage pleasures, they subject the juniors ('freshers') to several forms of inhumane tortures, abuses and to extremely humiliating situations.
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About 10 (more in 2008-09) "ragging-deaths" get reported in the media, every year (in India)! Hundreds of students get injured !
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Countless of innocent teenagers suffer serious physical and sexual abuses !
Common Forms of Ragging
WARNING : For expressing the true picture of ragging, explicit words and descriptions have been used. Not intended for minors (viewers).
We apologize to the countless of victims who have undergone (and to those who are still facing them) such extreme forms of abused. We are just trying to make people aware of the truth.
NOTE : This may appear unbelievable to those who are not aware of ragging in India. However the frequent reports in the media will provide enough information. The report submitted by the Dr. Raghavan Committee before the hon'ble Supreme Court of India also provides valuable and true information.
o Asking newcomers to sing songs, to dance, to propose to a senior, to solve tricky puzzles.
o Enforcing dress codes.
o Robbing juniors of money and valuables, depriving them of regular food at hostels.
o Asking juniors to answer awkward questions, to use slang words about their parents and other relatives, to use humiliating words and descriptions, etc.
o Forcing the juniors to face severe, unbearable conditions, e/g., kissing a 1000 Watt bulb, standing on hot electric heater, urinating on electric wires (presumed to be live), standing blindfolded on railway tracks, walking atop narrow guardrails on rooftops / terrace, standing naked on bitter cold, giving several hundreds or thousands of push-ups at a stretch, running miles after miles, etc.
o Forcing juniors to wear shoes 24x7 for months! Locking them in rooms, forcing them to cleanse seniors’ toilets, shoes, rooms, etc. Forcing them to drink own or seniors’ urine, compelling them to take alcohol, tobacco and illicit (addictive) drugs.
o Beating the juniors black and blue… …anytime any senior wishes… mercilessly.
o Stripping juniors completely naked… often in full view of the opposite sex… and often by the opposite sex, as well. Even forcing them to run completely naked to get their undergarments back from the students of opposite sex. Such abuses go on repeatedly, even for months!
In plenty of cases the seniors have even videotaped the abuses, after forcing their victims to strip. They then used those clips to blackmail their victims. Many even circulated the clips through MMS and/or uploaded them to the Internet adding to the severe psychological trauma of the innocent teenage victims!
Using such clips for making pornographic films have also been heard of.
o Forcing juniors to sex – natural and unnatural. Even sodomy, rape and gang-rape take place!!!
o Cases of stabbing, throwing out of balcony, nailing (just like crucifying), and burning body parts have also been reported as well.
There are several other humiliating and abusive forms of ragging, which are continuously engineered by the raggers. Contrary to the purposefully projected view that ragging is a "college prank" and raggers commit the acts impulsively, the truth is that ragging is crime committed in cold blood. The sadist abusers often plan their crimes months in advance (you will find many of them seeking "suggestions" for novel ways of torturing innocent teens, in some social networking sites. Strangely they even seek suggestions about six (6) months before the new session starts!
In addition to colleges and universities, it has reached several schools as well. Ragging complaints have even been reported from children of standard VI !!!
Facts |
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· Sexual abuses appear to have become the commonest form.
· Earlier ragging used to predominate for first few months. However, now-a-days, it is persisting for longer periods – throughout the year or even more.
· Contrary to the false beliefs and propaganda, in most of the affected institutions every newcomer face the wrath (though indeed some may be specially targeted for more intense torture. And again, contrary to the belief they may be those who are smarter or those who look better!!!). Juniors are treated like slaves by those seniors who rag.
· The nature and extents of abuses we heard from the infamous Abu Ghraib prison of Iraq or from the equally infamous Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo) of Cuba are routinely practiced in hundreds of hostels across the country. · Innocent teenage students are subjected to such abuses, on routine basis.
· Ragging involves serious human rights violations and several thousands of innocent teenagers fall prey to it, every year. · In India, ragging is banned and is a punishable criminal offence. Several Indian states, e.g., Tamil Nadu, Wert Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, etc. have their own Anti-Ragging laws / ordinances. The hon’ble Supreme Court has ordered to deal strictly with ragging.
· The Dr. Raghavan Committee, headed by Dr. R.K.Raghavan (former Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation) was construed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India, on the orders of the hon’ble Supreme Court of India. The committee has made several valuable recommendations to curb the menace of ragging, including that the “… civil society should be included in this exercise”.
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