Kolkata: Nearly nine months after the death of a first-year undergraduate student at Jadavpur University, the university’s executive council on Friday accepted the anti-ragging committee’s recommendation to permanently expel four students. These students were found to be present and “fully involved” in the ragging incident that occurred on or before August 9, 2023.
The anti-ragging committee recommended rustication for five students for four semesters and their permanent expulsion from JU hostel due to their involvement in a criminal conspiracy to rag.
Additionally, penal measures were recommended for the JU Main Hostel staff where the first-year student was
allegedly ragged.
A first-year undergraduate student from the Bengali department died after falling from the second-floor balcony of the main boys’ hostel on the night of August 9 and 10. An internal enquiry committee was formed on August 10 to probe the incident.
In addition to interrogating past and present students, teachers, and administrative officials, they also examined previous ragging cases reported at the university and to the University Grants Commission.
It was found that ragging has been prevalent at the main boys’ hostel, particularly in the A2 block of Jadavpur University Main Hostel (JUMH). The committee’s final report stated that seniors disguised ragging as “intro”.
However, this was merely a “pretext for a well-established system of ragging that generated considerable fear
among freshers, including first and second-year students and occasionally for third-year lateral
entry boarders”.