Salem: A first year undergraduA first year undergraduate student of a private arts college jumped off the second floor of his college hostel and attempted suicide on Thursday afternoon, unable to bear the ragging by his seniors.
The 19-year-old boy, S.Gokulraj suffered serious spine injuries in the fall and is under treatment at a private hospital in Salem. In a swift action, the Salem cops arrested four senior students of the Vysya College of Arts and Science at Ammapet.
According to the police, Gokulraj, a native of Karimangalam in Dharmapuri joined B.Com course in the Vysya college this academic year. Gokulraj who was staying in the college hostel was frequently ragged, asked to run, squat, tortured and taunted allegedly by four senior students- 21-year-old M.Alexander, final year B.Com student, S.Boopathy, T.Ajith Karan and S.Balaji-, who are studying second year B.Sc in the Vysya college.
Despite the Tamil Nadu government enacting a special law to end ragging and the Supreme Court directive to colleges to curb ragging, the scourge continues in several colleges especially in the hostels.
On Thursday afternoon, when Gokulraj went to the hostel to have lunch, the senior students allegedly ragged him again. Unable to bear their torture, Gokulraj jumped off the second floor of the college hostel and suffered serious bleeding injuries. He was rushed to a private hospital and given first aid. With his condition deteriorating, the boy was shifted to another hospital for intensive treatment.
The Ammapettai inspector J. Nagarajan conducted an inquiry with Gokulraj at the hospital on Friday. Gokulraj told thepolice he had been ragged several times during the last few weeks and that he had decided to end his life, unable to bear the ragging torture.
The police arrested M.Alexandrer, S.Boopathy, S.Balaji and T.Ajith Karan under sections 4 and 7 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibtion of Ragging Act. “ The school and college managements should keep a close vigil and ensure that the seniors do not indulge in ragging incidents. We will initiate stern action if there is any complaint of ragging on any campus,” said Nagarajan.
When contacted, the Vysya College principal P.Venkatesh claimed that Gokulraj did not complain to his parents or teaching staff about the ragging incidents in the hostel.
“We came to know that he had jumped off the second floor of the hostel due to ragging only after the police informed us. We have no complaints of ragging on the campus so far.”
