Kerala nursing student ragging: College denies ragging, welcomes probe

KOZHIKODE: The Al Qamar College of Nursing, Kalaburagi, Karnataka, on Friday denied that any kind of ragging had taken place on its campus or in the hostel. College president Kamarul Islam, who is a former minister and Congress leader, told DC that no incident of ragging was reported in the history of the college and added that the management welcomed any kind of investigation.

K.P. Aswathi, a first-year BSc student of the college and native of Pulluvanpadi, Edappal, Malappuram, had complained of brutal ragging by her Malayali seniors at the hostel. She said she was force-fed bathroom cleaning lotion by her seniors. Mr Islam admitted that they had not constituted an anti-ragging squad on the campus “since there were no incidents of ragging”.

The Supreme Court directive stipulates that all the institutions in the country should set up an anti-ragging committee and anti-ragging squad. The Kalaburagi police registered a case against five students of the college for ragging, attempt to murder and as per SC/ST Act on Thursday, after the Medical College police transferred the case.

Aswathi, a dalit, was admitted to Government Medical College hospital here on June 2 and hospital sources say that serious damage has happened to her internal organs. Meanwhile, some of the officials of the investigation team from Karnataka reached Kozhikode. Kalaburagi SP N. Sasi Kumar and DySP S. Jhanhavi are expected to arrive on Saturday morning. The statement of the victim will be recorded then.

KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran, who visited Aswathi in the hospital said that the state government should ensure that the girl can continue her studies in Kerala and arrangements should be made to offer a job for her mother Janaki. The National Human Rights Commission registered a case and Karnataka chief secretary, DGP and Kozhikode collector were given notice.