Fresh ragging allegations emerge at Kolkata’s Jadavpur University

Students of Jadavpur University demonstrate protests for their various demands. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Fresh allegations of ragging of a second-year postgraduate student have surfaced at Kolkata’s Jadavpur University 19 months after a major ragging incident led to a student’s death inside the university’s hostel premises.

This is the third reported incident of ragging at the university, one of Kolkata’s premium educational institutes.

The incident reportedly occurred on March 18, when the victim had visited the university’s main hostel to meet a friend. The student said that he was harassed and verbally abused for hours; his abusers even threatened to rape his mother. They also allegedly forced him to write an apology letter for “spreading fake news about the ragging culture” in the university.

“I have always been vocal about ragging inside the hostel and campus since the August 9, 2023, incident when one student was ragged inside the hostel, and he died. I have been marked out by these offenders since that day,” the victim told The Hindu.

The victim, a student of the Film Studies department, said that there were a group of 10-12 known offenders who run a “ragging culture” inside the hostel premises. However, the victim has also insisted that he did not believe the whole institution promoted this culture. “Seniors, juniors, professors, and classmates have come out in solidarity and have shown support. This is an issue of some specific people, this should not malign the name of the whole institute,” he added.

Jadavpur University interim Vice Chancellor Bhaskar Gupta said they had received an official complaint about the issue and have formed an enquiry committee. “We will investigate the matter and conduct thorough enquiry.”

Multiple incidents

On August 9, 2023, a 17-year-old first-year undergraduate student was ragged and sexually abused, after which he was found dead inside the hostel premises the same night. Dozens of students from the university were named in this incident, including many former students who were still regular visitors at the hostel.

However, 19 months on, the student’s father Ramprasad Kundu continues to fight a lonely battle to bring justice to his son. In a conversation with The Hindu, he said, “If the university and government do not hold the old offenders accountable, these incidents will keep happening. We have not gotten justice for our son, but every year a new case comes to the surface. To date, we cannot accept our son’s death.”

He questioned why the university was allowing known abusers to remain scot-free and interact with students. He added that if this culture continued, parents would stop sending their wards to the university even if it was known as one of the best in the State.

A similar incident came to light on July 24, 2024. An engineering student of Jadavpur University was harassed by a group of students on suspicion that he had stolen a laptop. The student collapsed after hours of ragging and was rushed to the hospital.