Ragging allegation in Odisha’s OUAT, FIR lodged

Sambad English Bureau Published On : Nov 24, 2015 at 11:39 PM Updated On : Nov 28, 2015 at 4:09 PM

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Nov 24:

First year students of College of Forestry under OUAT (Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology) today brought allegations of ragging against seniors.

Bhubaneswar tops India’s hottest place chart as heatwave continues unabated

Intense heatwave continues for 8th day in a row; Odisha capital registers season’s highest temp

Angry junior students today gheraoed the Office of Dean for a while demanding action and lodged an FIR in Khandagiri police station too.

In their FIR to the police, some of the boarders of Pathani Samanta Hostel of the university alleged that they were beaten brutally by the seniors on the night of November 19 and two of them were seriously injured in the incident. However, the university authorities and anti-ragging committee had taken no action irrespective of repeated complaints.

“An FIR has been lodged against some of the senior students for ragging the juniors in OUAT. We have sent a team of officers to the university for investigation,” said Bhubaneswar DCP Satybrata Bhoi confirming the FIR.

‘We were being harassed ever since we joined the hostel. They (seniors) were troubling us every time we went for lunch and dinner. The hostel superintendent had taken no action even though he knew about it well. Last Thursday night, the seniors became violent and tortured us from 10.30 PM to 3 AM in the morning. It was both physical and mental torture. We did approach the dean, but he wanted us to submit individual written complaints that would have made us vulnerable for further attacks,” said a first year student.

The dean of the university, however, had a different version to say.

‘After hearing about the incident, I did ask the students about it. They all said that they are fine. No one complained. Later, the faculty members, DSW and hostel superintendent did ask them about the incident. They kept saying that nothing has happened. I had even asked the parents to lodge a complaint officially for us to take action, but even that was not being done,” said OUAT Dean MM Hussain.

“However, after much persuasion they admitted the assault and we lodged a report to the Central Disciplinary Committee headed by the Vice Chancellor for final action,” he added.