NHRC pulls up state over IBS ragging incident

Hyderabad: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took suo motu notice of an incident of ragging reported at the IBS college campus in Shankarpally earlier this month and issued a notice to the Telangana government, Union education ministry and the UGC, directing the chief secretary to file a report on the matter within six weeks.

On November 1, a first-year BBA-LLB student was allegedly ragged, sexually assaulted, beaten and forced to chant religious slogans by a group of students at the college hostel.

The video going viral on social media, with IT minister K.T. Rama Rao being tagged, among other officials. The victim sent an email to the cops and a case was registered by the Shankarpally police on November 11.

The police initially claimed that the management was handling the issue and that no case was filed. But, the next day, it arrested students and booked faculty members in connection with the incident.

Eight, including a juvenile, were arrested while two other suspects are absconding.

“We have served Section 41 CrPC notices to nine faculty members, including college registrar, director of administration and professors,” a police official said.

The students were booked under non-bailable sections and are lodged in judicial remand. 

On Tuesday, the NHRC said that the college management failed to help the student when he approached them with a complaint on November 1. IT said that the incident was a violation of human rights, caused due to sheer negligence, lack of supervision and failure of the college administration in ensuring the safety and security of each student on the campus.

The commission said the chief secretary’s report should include an action-taken report, along with the reasons for the prima facie failure of the institution to take adequate steps to prevent ragging, under the UGC regulation.

The NHRC also notified the Director General of Police, Telangana, regarding the status of the criminal case.