20 December,2016 09:02 AM IST | | Vinod Kumar Menon
The external and internal wounds may heal, but the scars in the minds of nine junior polytechnic students of the state Government Polytechnic College, Nattakom, Kottayam, will remain forever. They were brutally ragged by eight other students
The external and internal wounds may heal, but the scars in the minds of nine junior polytechnic students of the state Government Polytechnic College, Nattakom, Kottayam, will remain forever. They were brutally ragged by eight other students.
O S Avinash (22), a first year diploma student of electrical engineering, one of the ragged students, has been diagnosed with Rhabdomyolysis (a serious syndrome due to a direct or indirect muscle injury, which can lead to renal failure). The creatinine level in his blood had shot from the regular 0.6 to 1.2 milligrams (mg) per deciliter (dL to over 8 milligrams), resulting in temporary loss of vision, said his cousin Arun Kumar, while waiting outside the dialysis centre at Mother Hospital, Trissur. His vision was restored after the initial two dialysis procedures.
Arun said, "Avinash stated that on the fateful evening (December 2), the seniors asked all the nine junior students staying in the hostel to visit room no 113, from where they would go to watch a late night movie. However, the seniors forced all of them to undress, made some do 500 push ups and some do sit ups, while few were made to crawl on the floor nude like a snake. The ragging continued from 9 pm to 3 am the next day. They even shot it on mobiles." After this he said they were forced to have liquor allegedly laced with some powder (the police have not confirmed this) and the harassment continued. On December 7, he was admitted to Mother hospital, where he was put on an emergency dialysis, said Arun. Avinash is keen that all the accused are punished severely. "We do not want anyone else to go through the pain and suffering that we had to go through, we want justice," said his parents. Avinash's father works as a line man with BSNL, his mother is a housewife. According to Arun, Avinash's parents and family are under tremendous pressure, from the accuseds' families to withdraw the case.
Police speak
We have also booked the accused under section 4 of Prohibition of Ragging Act and under the Protection of Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act), said Deputy Superintendent of Police (Changnassery) V Ajit.
Principal says
C G Anita, Principal at the college, said, "I was unaware until I received a call from the police station on December 7 inquiring about any ragging incident in the hostel."
